HARRISBURG — 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.
Through EMAC, Pennsylvania sends individuals or teams to respond to emergencies in other states, like Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina. Funds used to extend the resources are later compensated by the receiving state. The compact goes both ways in the event of major disasters in Pennsylvania.
As a “resource rich” state, Padfield spoke highly of the program and the opportunities it gives Pennsylvania first responders to gain experience and serve during major disasters.
Unfortunately, the state’s fire response is drawing from much smaller pools. Unlike PEMA, the state Fire Commissioner’s office is funded almost entirely through the commonwealth. It uses those funds to provide grants and support to local volunteer fire departments.
Many such departments have been forced to make hard decisions, including consolidating with other municipalities. Meanwhile, availability of fire trucks and other supplies has become scarce and prohibitively expensive as private equity firms have choked the market according to Rep. Joshua Siegel, D-Allentown.
State Fire Commissioner Thomas Cook said that they’re working to address this problem from a higher level.
“We’re engaging with other state fire marshalls about what’s going on in their states, and I think you’re going to see a tidal wave of pushback officially from governments,” he said.
Perhaps the most pressing issue for firefighters in the state, however, is a lack of new recruits. The demographic crisis that is reaching into every industry creates particular peril for small towns where there simply isn’t anyone left to answer the call.
“For all the good faith efforts that this team up there have made, I get the sense that everything that we’re doing at some level is going to fall a little bit short of the mark,” said Rep. Mark Gillen, R-Reading, “I think we’re in crisis today.”
Cook said the two biggest needs to fix that approach are funding and recruitment. Traditionally, volunteer firefighters also serve their departments in raising funds and handling accounting and administrative tasks. For many struggling to find their footing in a tough economy, working for free is not only unpalatable but financially unsustainable.
“The young people coming into the volunteer fire service don’t want to be us. They want to be different than us. They have different expectations, different desires that don’t necessarily align with the traditional values of the volunteer fire service,” said Cook.
He suggested that funding departments more would make a big impact and said the state’s home-rule structure tends to work against its interests. Funding the work and providing higher level organizational structure could be hugely beneficial. Cook also noted that assisting departments with recruitment and incentivizing volunteers would help.
