Texas lawmakers haven't addressed training

Texas lawmakers still have not required baseline training for local emergency management coordinators, one year after the July 4, 2025 Hill Country floods that killed more than 130 people, according to reporting published July 3 by The Texas Tribune and July 8 by Hill Country News. Texas Division of Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd had urged lawmakers after the disaster to set minimum standards for the local officials who help plan for and lead disaster response. Two bills meant to address that gap failed during the final special legislative session of 2025, leaving counties and cities across Texas free to appoint coordinators with no formal emergency-management training. ### What training gap are lawmakers being accused of leaving in place? Texas law does not require all local emergency management coordinators to complete baseline training, even though those officials are central to local disaster planning and response, The Texas Tribune reported. Kidd told lawmakers at a July 23, 2025 hearing that “there needs to be a baseline” for people appointed to the job. (texastribune.org) In April 2026, Kidd repeated the point to another legislative committee investigating the floods. “To be an emergency management coordinator in the state of Texas, you need the signature of a mayor or judge. Period. That needs to change,” he said, according to The Texas Tribune. ### What did state officials recommend after the floods? Kidd’s recommendations went beyond training. The Texas Tribune reported that he also asked lawmakers to let the state vet volunteers who arrive after disasters and to set clearer rules for local officials deciding whether to conduct autopsies during mass-casualty events. (texastribune.org) An August 6, 2025 bill analysis for Senate Bill 1 described a broader flood-response package that, as filed, would have required the Texas Division of Emergency Management to create an emergency manager licensing program, required annual training for emergency management coordinators, created a volunteer management system and required background checks for TDEM volunteers. (texastribune.org) ### Which bill dealt directly with coordinator qualifications? (texastribune.org) House Bill 212, filed by Rep. Richard Hayes in 2025, would have required emergency management coordinators to meet minimum credentialing qualifications established by rule by the Texas Division of Emergency Management. The introduced bill also applied emergency-management training requirements to coordinators in counties with populations of 500,000 or more. The Texas Tribune reported that two bills tied to the issues Kidd raised failed in the last special session of 2025. (capitol.texas.gov) As of early July 2026, that meant local leaders in Texas’ 254 counties and its cities could still appoint coordinators without formal training requirements. ### How does this connect to the Camp Mystic investigation? State investigators told lawmakers on June 18, 2026 that Camp Mystic lacked state-required written emergency plans and adequate evacuation measures that could have prevented the deaths of 25 campers and two counselors in the July 4, 2025 flood. (capitol.texas.gov) Investigators Casey Garrett and Michael Massengale described “cascading failures,” including communication lapses between state and local authorities and poor instructions to counselors about evacuation. (texastribune.org) That report focused on the camp and the flood response around it, while lawmakers said they had already passed laws addressing all but one of the deficiencies identified there. The unresolved training issue highlighted in the separate coordinator debate concerns the qualifications of the local officials responsible for emergency-management planning across Texas jurisdictions. ### What happens next in Austin? (texastribune.org) The Texas Legislature’s next regular session begins in January 2027, according to the June 18 Texas Tribune report on the Camp Mystic investigation, which said lawmakers planned to address at least one remaining flood-related deficiency then. That session is the next clear opening for lawmakers to revisit coordinator training, volunteer vetting and other recommendations that did not become law in 2025. (texastribune.org)