In April, we learned that the DHS grant funds that support our programs would receive cuts that average about 9% across the board for the FY24 budget year (Oct '23 – Sept '24). Two months later, we are finally starting to see the actual consequences of those cuts.
While IAEM, NEMA, BCEM, and others have had some success reversing these cuts in the initial FY25 budget planning, the process is still being played out, and nothing is guaranteed.
To help solidify our position, we need your help! We are kicking off a "Grassroots Campaign" to help legislators understand the vital importance of funding our emergency management programs. This campaign will start with two actions:
1. Survey – How does this funding cut impact your program?
2. Outreach Tools to help you advocate for your programs at the local, state, and national level
3. Additional items will be added as we see how the appropriations process is shaping up
This message is part of the first phase. We need to know how the cuts in funding are impacting your program. To help with this, we are providing you with a survey to share specific stories that help make the cuts tangible to legislators. As we collect these stories, we will look for trends or powerful examples to develop talking points, position papers, or advocacy materials. All examples will remain anonymous unless we receive your express permission to name your agency or organization.
You can find the link to the survey here:
https://forms.office.com/r/BzrZE4qGP4
We need your impact stories as soon as possible to start building our next phase of materials, but there is also no immediate deadline. In fact, we encourage you to submit multiple stores as you encounter them. The more data and information we have, the better case we will be able to make.
If you want to refresh your memory on the last updates:
· https://www.iaem.org/groups/us-committees/GAC-News-2024
· https://www.iaem.org/groups/us-committees/IAEM-Letters-Statements-Testimony
· Look back through the IAEMconnect Government Affairs group
More to come soon!
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Travis Cryan, MS, CEM
IAEM Chief of Staff
travis@iaem.com
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