Can Texas Use the Rainy Day Fund to Fight Wildfires?

       The recent wildfires have caused many people to lose their homes and even worse, their loved ones. Sometime this year announced in the Texas Tribune, Gov. Rick Perry tried to argue against using the Rainy Day Fund for the huge budget shortfall for the 2012-2013 biennium. After the earthquake and tsunami destroyed parts of Japan in March, Rick Perry stated that that was the kind of unexpected natural disasters that could possibly hit Texas and that is a reason not to tap into the state's savings account. What we  learned, however, is that the Rainy Day Fund can't even be used in that situation unless it was agreed upon in the Texas Legislature by a two-thirds majority of the state House and Senate during a legislative session.        Money comes from the state and federal government to cover crazy natural disasters that may come our way. That money can come from a list of resources including the Disaster Contingency Fund, which contains about $49 million, or the Rainy Day Fund, which should contain around $6.4 billion come August 2013. On September 9, the White House granted a limited disaster declaration to provide individual assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for those who lost their homes or property because of the horrible fires in Bastrop County.
       When asked about using the Rainy Day Fund, Lucy Nashed, a spokeswoman for the governor's office stated that we are very early into the fiscal year and we have no idea what might happen in the next two years and that there are alternative ways to get money for these wildfires like the disaster contingency fund. The last words about this issue were that the Rainy Day Fund is not to be used as an emergency fund until the 83rd Legislature convenes in January 2013 or unless the governor calls a special session before then.
       I thought this article is worth reading because this is what's going on in our state and for some of us, in our city. There are a lot of questions regarding what is being done about these wildfires and what money we can use to contain them. This massive drought has caused many people to wonder how we are going to get the water to put out the fires along with the funding. The money has to come somewhere for Texas to see a relief.