The Sisyphus Comments

Pending New Emergency Response Laws

The following bills that have been submitted to the governor for his signature:

House Bill 1170 requires each locality to maintain an agency of emergency management and to appoint a coordinator of emergency management. Currently, the authority to establish such an agency and appoint a coordinator is discretionary.

House Bill 1180 allows the governor to direct a disbursement of up to $2,500 to an employee of a state or local public safety agency who has responded to a man-made or natural disaster and who has suffered an extreme personal or family hardship in the affected area. The disbursement can last up to three months.

House Bill 1004 makes permanent the Office of Commonwealth Preparedness and provides for the appointment of an assistant to the governor to serve a four-year term. The bill sets out the duties of the Office and also creates the Secure Commonwealth Panel and sets out its membership and duties. Senate Bill 363 is the companion bill.

Senate Bill 77 extends the “time of disaster” used in anti-price gouging laws to include the 30 days that follow an extension or renewal of a state of emergency. In addition, House Bill 1094 authorizes the governor to issue 30-day emergency orders requiring suppliers to reduce the price to the prevailing price in the local market if a supplier is selling necessary goods or services at such an inflated price that it might create public panic.