U.S. Government Affairs

Greetings from Colorado Springs!  We've had lots of great interaction with our federal partners at FEMA this week, including the FEMA Forum yesterday.  Matt Lyttle with Guidehouse moderated a panel that included:

• Nancy Dragani, FEMA Region 8 Administrator
• Christopher Logan, Deputy Associate Administrator for Resilience, FEMA
• Pamela Williams, Assistant Administrator, Grant Programs, FEMA
• Cynthia Spishak, Associate Administrator, Office of Policy, Program Analysis, and International Affairs, FEMA

Here are some notes from the FEMA Forum that were drafted by Bethany Morton, CEM.  It's impossible to capture all of the lively interaction between the panel and the audience, but I want to give a huge THANK YOU to Bethany for her willingness to share her notes for those of you who were not able to attend.  Here are Bethany's notes...

1. New administration and 8 new governors: EMs teach them about EM- what should they include? Opportunity to prioritize work, tailor it to the person and team coming in- learn their background; NIMS  and where you currently are; Disaster Declaration Process (FEMA has new Governor training program); new local officials webinars started this year to orient local officials to the process;<u5:p></u5:p>
2. What did FEMA learn from threats? Prepare for it, it's going to happen, find your trusted voices and align with them- have to rethink how we connect with those trusted agents; Listen to how the messages are being communicate and address misinformation- sometime we have to use multiple avenues to get the message out or corrected<u5:p></u5:p>
3. What is your biggest priority? Working with state and local, maximize relisence recovery, restoring grant cutes, transition ongoing and outgoing president<u5:p></u5:p>
4. Threats? Multi events with cascading incidents, cyber, AI<u5:p></u5:p>
5. How can locals help FEMA to best serve survivors? President's budget, educate members about emergency management at all levels of government, grant cut was shocking and hurt- don't think people understood what the impacts were going to be, go back to your legal basis at the local, state, and federal<u5:p></u5:p>
6. How can you better tell your story? Will help state and federal budgets- how it helps and how it will hold us back- does it cause a gap? Represent impacts<u5:p></u5:p>
7. PA increase thresholds to increase mitigation efforts and building codes: Allows a higher cost share by integrating mitigation activities and building codes; up to extra 10% to 85% federal cost share: We have to prepare in advance<u5:p></u5:p>
8. FEMA administers over 40 grants, locals need less reporting requirements? Trying to simplify and ease that burden: FEMA GO is part of the solution; Most requirements are legal requirements that they really can't control- but continue to express to law makers how they could make this process easier to deal with: Did remove BCA for projects under. $1 million: Looking for opportunities for streamlining- maybe a common app that would cover multiple grant programs (potential idea): Also could AI be used to simplify this process (potential idea)<u5:p></u5:p>
9. Chatham County (GA): can't build trust when FEMA doesn't understand their own programs: We need to build trust better with locals because it's hard to help build trust within their community; create 2 pager and sequence of programs available (graphics are not good- but it is a place to start with) one paragraph on each program<u5:p></u5:p>
10. Macon County (GA): as new transition of new President be a champion for local EMs that we are not just fire fighters with other duties as assigned; grant funding needs to get passed through to the locals<u5:p></u5:p>
11. University (MA): calls to pull long term recovery out of FEMA- probably doesn't make sense because when does recovery start and response stop most of the time it overlaps and continues; hard to separate the two and also create another agency so think more bureaucracy  <u5:p></u5:p>
12. Attorney: teach local leaders what their authorities are, state authorities are, what your plans are/ contractors in place, and MOUs signed<u5:p></u5:p>
13. Colorado local EM: FEMA has an education problem which is causing misinformation- new push on equity, but it doesn't make sense; lower economic community needed IA and was denied: what does equity look like? FEMA is struggling with it because it doesn't look the same in each state; can be so many different things but programs have to be available to those in need; understand those non-triggers in rural America; we let word derail the outcome or solutions: What does equity look like your community?<u5:p></u5:p>
14. Same complaints and confusion seems to continue: FEMA has been doing the same things over and over again with different names but the same results; recognize the state is the problem between the local and FEMA so how about we have those meetings and those conversations? Disrupt the process: Hill is going to have to be involved to make these changes<u5:p></u5:p>
15. Some programs will be going away, but that money will help to fund other things like that 10% in PA; have to work to change the conversation- some programs need to updated; locals need to dive that<u5:p></u5:p>
16. FEMA needs to use words that people (citizens) understand: not program language; citizens think public assistance is for them<u5:p></u5:p>
17. Professional development of EM at the local level ;FEMA to state to local; FEMA wants locals to have the skills that they think locals should have; work with states to not slash important programs that help professionalize programs<u5:p></u5:p>
18. Need to recognize what is coming to state and locals- how should they be preparing for these HUGE changes that are coming? Breathe and understand we need to stay focus and look for opportunities to improve<u5:p></u5:p>
19. Laws take a lot of time to change; don't lose perspective<u5:p></u5:p>
20. Josh-We appreciate the help from FEMA, but nothing should happen without the local EM knows about but Intergovernmental affairs meeting with mayors, county council, and county administrator; caused more problems then help<u5:p></u5:p>
21. Competing ideologies of what makes a good emergency manager; what is a good professional emergency manager?<u5:p></u5:p>

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Thad Huguley
Government Affairs Director
IAEM
Falls Church VA
(615) 870-9316
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