What SB 2 would have required of counties under 68,750, and why to prepare anyway

July 2026 · RuralEOC · Statute citations verified against Texas Legislature Online

First, what actually happened

SB 2, "relating to disaster preparedness, response, and recovery; requiring a license; authorizing fees," was the emergency management omnibus of the 89th Legislature's second called session, filed in the aftermath of the July 2025 floods. It passed the Senate on August 18, 2025, and passed the House with amendments on August 21. The Senate refused to concur, both chambers appointed conference committees, and the session adjourned sine die before a conference report emerged. SB 2 never became law. There is no enrolled version; the companion HB 2 was laid on the table.

So why write about a dead bill? Because a bill that passes both chambers and dies on a procedural clock usually comes back. Emergency management coordinators who read SB 2 now will recognize the next version when it's filed.

Provision 1: Unified incident command plans for small counties

SB 2 §8 would have amended Government Code §418.106 to add, for counties with population 68,750 or less:

"(b-1) In a county with a population of 68,750 or less, a local or interjurisdictional emergency management agency's emergency management plan must include procedures to establish a unified incident command structure for the county and any municipality located in the county." SB 2 (89-2), Senate Engrossed, §8

The same section would have added an annual, TDEM-supervised drill of the emergency management plan for every local and interjurisdictional agency, waived for a year for jurisdictions under an active disaster declaration.

For a small county, that means your plan would need to say, in writing, how the county and its cities fall into one command structure when something happens, and you'd have to exercise the plan every year, with the state watching. If your county and your county seat currently run separate alert systems and separate pictures of the same event, that's the gap this provision was aimed at.

Provision 2: After-action reports within 60 days

SB 2 §9 would have created Government Code §418.1103:

"A local or interjurisdictional emergency management agency for an area that is wholly or partly the subject of a disaster declaration by the governor under this chapter or by the president of the United States shall: (1) complete a post-disaster after-action report on a form prescribed by the division not later than the 60th day after the date a disaster declaration expires or is terminated; and (2) submit the report to the division." SB 2 (89-2), Senate Engrossed, §9 (proposed §418.1103)

Note the trigger: 60 days from when the declaration ends, not from the disaster itself, and the form is TDEM's, not yours. An AAR reconstructed from memory, group texts, and a legal pad six weeks after demobilization is a miserable document to write and a worse one to read. An AAR drafted from a timestamped activity log is mostly done before the declaration expires. That's the discipline worth building whether or not this mandate returns, and it's on RuralEOC's roadmap for exactly that reason.

Provision 3: Licensed emergency managers

SB 2 §10 would have created a new Subchapter M in Chapter 418: emergency manager licenses in five tiers (bridge, basic, intermediate, advanced, and master), administered by the Texas Commission on Fire Protection, with TDEM setting training and eligibility minimums by rule. The teeth were in proposed §418.455:

"A person may not serve as an emergency management coordinator under Section 418.1015(c) for a period that exceeds six months … unless the person holds an emergency manager license." SB 2 (89-2), Senate Engrossed, §10 (proposed §418.455; would have taken effect January 1, 2027)

For rural counties, this is the provision with the sharpest edge. The EMC in a county of 3,000 is usually a fire chief or sheriff wearing a second hat. Licensing professionalizes the role and raises the workload bar for the part-timers holding it. People whose time is already spoken for need tools that do more of the work.

What IS law right now

Don't let the dead bill obscure the live one. HB 33 (89th Legislature, Regular Session) took effect September 1, 2025, and requires every municipality, county, independent school district, and open-enrollment charter school to employ or appoint a public information officer certified in emergency communications by TDEM (Government Code §418.332). PIOs already serving must obtain certification by September 1, 2026. If your county hasn't addressed this yet, that deadline is real and enforcement questions are better asked before it passes. More in our Texas system overview.

The prepare-anyway checklist

• Write the unified command annex now. It's good practice with or without a mandate, and it's the cheapest provision to satisfy early.
• Start an activity log habit. Every activation, drill, and burn-ban decision goes in one timestamped place. That log is a future AAR, DSO, and commissioners court answer.
• Get your PIO certified before September 1, 2026: that one isn't optional.
• Watch the 90th Legislature (2027). A bill that passed both chambers rarely stays dead. When it returns, counties with the habits above will read it as a checklist, not a threat.