State emergency management officials across the country are warning about the consequences of federal budget cuts and delays to natural disaster and emergency response funding. And just as agencies are tasked with preparing for a broader variety of more severe threats ranging from pandemics to cyberattacks, funding to mitigate those threats is at risk.
On Sept. 30, a $320 million allocation intended to be shared between several states was suddenly delayed until those states could submit their methodology explaining how they deduct deported immigrants from their population counts, according to AP News.
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That demand, together with the federal government shutdown, has delayed or blocked key funding from being distributed to state agencies and emergency responders.
Trina Sheets, executive director of the National Emergency Management Association, explained that it is not within the job duties of emergency responders to track statewide population counts or to develop census methodology, and said they’ve never seen a demand like this before. Emergency workers are reacting to the demand with confusion and concern.
The federal grant portal itself is also down as a result of the federal government shutdown, and communication between state and federal actors is limited as a result.
