Last week there were some posts circulating around Twitter expressing some considerable dismay about emergency management budgets. While I obviously agree that emergency management programs should be better funded, there is some important context to consider when looking at (most) emergency management agency budgets in the US.
While jurisdictions having emergency management programs provide some measure of funding, typically the largest quantity of funding comes from federal grant programs, with the most significant grant for operational expenses being the Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG). EMPG is part of the Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP) and is budgeted each year in the federal budget with administrative responsibilities in the hands of FEMA. States are the grantees of EMPG. While a considerable amount of the funds are retained by states, there is a requirement for a certain percentage to be applied to local emergency management programs. States have different models for how the funds are allocated – some states award funds directly to county/local governments (subgrantees), others spend the funds on behalf of the subgrantees through the provision of direct services to county/local governments. Many states also use a hybrid of the two models. Those receiving an allocation of EMPG are ideally accounting for it in their published budgets, but we should be aware that some releases of budget information may not include EMPG numbers.
There are also additional grant funds available to county and local governments to support an array of emergency management and emergency management-related programs. These include hazard mitigation grants, the Urban Area Security Initiatives (UASI) grant, Secure the Cities, and others. Yes, a lot of these funds are targeted to more ‘homeland security’ types of activities, but we should also recognize the considerable overlap in a lot of EM and HS. I took a small sample of a few mid to large sized cities (mostly since they have established and funded emergency management offices), seeing ratios of 1:3 to 1:4 for local share funding compared to grant funding (this did not include COVID-related supplemental funding). Of course, you may see numbers significantly different in your jurisdiction.
I’ll also suggest that activities across many other local government agencies and departments support some measure of emergency management. While a lot of these expenditures may not have the input of an emergency management office, there are a variety of local infrastructure projects (hopefully contributing to hazard mitigation), health and human services investments (mitigation and preparedness), code enforcement (mitigation), and others that do contribute to the greater emergency management picture for the jurisdiction. In fact, some of the funding allocations received by these agencies may be through discipline-specific emergency management grant programs, such as those which may come from US DOT or CDC/HHS.
Overall, emergency management funding tends to be a lot larger than the casual observer may think, though even a budget analyst would require some time to identify how it all comes together, especially for a larger jurisdiction that tends to have larger departments, more complex expenditures, and more grant funding. As mentioned, I’d still love to see more direct funding allocations for emergency management programs, especially as emergency management can hopefully direct efforts where and how they are needed most within their communities. I’m also hopeful that officials leading different programs at the local level are coming together to jointly determine how best to allocate federal funds (obviously within the grant terms and conditions), even if they are coming from different federal and state agencies and being awarded to different local departments, with a goal of addressing local threats, hazards, and capabilities in the best ways possible for communities.
While what I wrote is a broad-brush example of how emergency funding is allocated across much of the US, different states do administer grants different. It can be as simple as I’ve outlined, or a lot more complex. We also have a lot of examples of the haves and have-nots, with many smaller jurisdictions being left woefully behind in funding. I’d love to hear what the funding situation looks like for your jurisdiction. Also, for those not in the US, how are your local programs funded?
© 2021 Timothy Riecker, CEDP
The Contrarian Emergency Manager 