Texas Bill Allocates $3 Billion to Flood Control Projects

The Texas House of Representatives has passed a bill that would pull more than $3 billion from the state’s rainy-day fund to pay for flood control projects.

At the beginning of this year’s legislative session, SB 7 was one of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s 30 priority bills for 2019. The bill was passed by the Senate in March and taken up by the House last week. An amendment by Rep. Dade Phelan combines the Senate’s version with a House alternative, creating two funds that will provide grants and loans for flood control and mitigation projects.

The funds created would be the Flood Infrastructure Fund, which would assume $3.3 billion from the state’s Economic Stabilization Fund, and the Texas Infrastructure Resiliency Fund, which would allow cities and counties to apply for grants or low-interest loans for projects through the Texas Water Development Board.