CRISIS MANAGEMENTCrisis Management Agencies Facing Crises
Ninety-five percent of the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency’s funding comes from federal sources.
Ninety-five percent of the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency’s funding comes from federal sources.
Speaking before the House Appropriations Committee, Director Randy Padfield acknowledged that this could be a problem in the near future.
Rep. Abigail Salisburg, D-Braddock, asked Padfield what confidence he had that the agency would continue to be funded in subsequent years.
“What’s going to play out in Washington is going to play out in Washington,” said Padfield. “I think every day we have updated information that seems to change regarding situations, so we evaluate that as that comes in, but that is a serious concern for us in the long-term.”
He noted that one of their major funding streams is the Emergency Management Performance Grant, which doesn’t just fund the state agency. It also funds emergency management personnel and programming at the county and municipal level, increasing the risk factor.
“Do you have a contingency plan of where you will find the money to operate if that federal funding were to disappear?” asked Salisbury.
Padfield noted that this is a strength of the agency. In the event that emergency funding is frozen or cut, PEMA would work with the governor’s office to determine how to continue providing vital services to the commonwealth.
Representatives expressed gratitude and called for elaboration on the agency’s responses to specific events in their districts, including the recent aviation disaster in Northeast Philadelphia and the massive factory fire in Abington Township.
The agency also oversees the state’s 911 program, which recently converted to NG911, continues to manage the COVID-19 disaster, and even played a role in responding to the rash of drone sightings earlier this winter.
Two areas that are notably out of its purview and that of every other state agency, noted Rep. Emily Kinkead, D-Bellevue, are landslides and sinkholes. These are especially pronounced regions where coal mines have deteriorated the structural integrity of the land.
Padfield spoke about reduced budget requests for the state’s eight urban search and rescue teams as well as Pennsylvania’s participation in the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, or EMAC. For search and rescue, this was due to one-time expenses of implementing a team in Pittsburgh, while for EMAC, there is a surplus from last year.
