November 19, 2013
Agenda
Room 8E-B
11 a.m.
The Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee will consider the following bills at 11 a.m. in Room 8E-B:
Senate Bill 771, P.N. 826 (Sen. John Gordner) will establish a 17-member Geospatial Coordinating Board in the Office of Administration to encourage the sharing of maps and other geospatial data among municipalities, state agencies, first responders, the general public and other end-users of critical data, with the goal of improving data accuracy, providing comparable data across geographical lines, reducing the duplication of effort, and saving tax dollars and emergency response time.
Amendment A04703 will increase the board’s voting members from 17 to 19, to include surveyors and a county emergency management agency employee. Nonvoting members would be reduced from 8 to 7. The quorum requirement is changed from 9 to 10.
House Bill 1285, P.N. 2429 (Rep. Bryan Cutler) will also establish a Geospatial Coordinating Board. Its provisions are similar to Senate Bill 771, P.N. 826.
House Bill 1706, P.N. 2513 (Rep. Matt Baker) will extend and expand the Volunteer Loan Assistance Program for Firefighters (VLAP), a top priority of volunteer fire departments throughout the state. The limits on how much fire companies can borrow in nearly all categories have not been increased since 1982. Most of the loan amount limits will be doubled. No additional General Fund dollars are required.
Senate Bill 720, P.N. 741 (Sen. Lisa Baker) will establish a state-sponsored small disaster assistance program to help individuals and municipalities recover from localized disasters that fall below the $16.5 million threshold for federal aid.