Community
In March, IAEM learned that the National Weather Service would receive a $45M budget cut for FY24. Immediately after that, in April, we learned that the FY24 appropriation for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would result in cuts to FEMA’s grant programs, averaging 9% across the board.
Because the FY24 appropriations cycle just wrapped up (much later than anyone expected), the FEMA Administrator has advised us to focus our efforts on ensuring funding is restored to FY23 levels during the FY25 appropriations cycle and not to expect any funds to be added back to FY24 through any supplemental funding bills.
Therefore, IAEM, NEMA, BCEM, and others have been working continuously behind the scenes since April to ensure key members on the Hill understand the dangerous impact these funding cuts could have on our national preparedness, which starts at the local level. This included sending a letter to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees outlining our shared appropriation priorities for the FY25 cycle, including grants, education & training, EMAC, EMAP/CEM, and the National Weather Service. The letter explained the negative ramifications of another year of cuts like those enacted in FY24 and urged Congress to restore funding to “at least FY23 funding levels.”
Following the letter, the IAEM-USA Government Affairs Committee initiated a targeted outreach campaign to House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee members to ensure they were aware of our priorities as they determined the budget they would recommend to the full committee and the House of Representatives. When the Subcommittee released its draft, the news was good, with EMPG, SHSP, UASI, and NSGP back up to the FY23 enacted levels as requested. Subsequently, the full House Appropriations Committee reported the bill favorably to the House floor, where it was considered and approved on June 28.
Here is a link to the committee report. The numbers for the grant programs are on page 69.
Even with this good news, THE PROCESS IS FAR FROM OVER. We were in a similar positive situation last year, only to see things go sidewise when the House and Senate cut a deal in April to end the FY24 appropriations impasse.
IAEM has initiated a grassroots campaign to help legislators understand the vital importance of funding our emergency management programs. There are two initial parts of the campaign.
IAEM needs to know how these funding cuts are impacting your program. Please complete our survey to share specific stories that demonstrate the impacts of the funding cuts. 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 IAEM receives your express permission to name your agency or organization.
You can start the survey here: https://forms.office.com/r/BzrZE4qGP4
We need you to contact your US Representative and both of your US Senators to encourage them to restore all of FEMA’s grant programs to full funding for FY25.
Click HERE for the contact information for your elected officials.
To assist with this, we’ve created the letter template.
We would also like to hear about conversations or exchanges you have with these elected officials so that we can help gauge the impact of this effort. You can send updates to: GovAffairs@iaem.com
Working on your Initial Certification or Recertification? Follow the instructions in the Application Guidebook to count this a Legislative Contact Professional Contribution.