Recommendations to President Trump Regarding FEMA
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| One of dozens of homes destroyed by the 2022 Andover, Kansas, Tornado |
If I were asked to give advice regarding the short- to medium-term future of FEMA, I would offer the advice listed below. The ultimate, and superior, advice would come from a National Disaster Review Board, but FEMA has become so dysfunctional that I don't believe the nation can afford to wait to make some or all of these changes.
The Advice
- The new mission of FEMA would be to serve as a facilitator to state and local governments in the wake of major (not routine) extreme weather and natural disasters (e.g., tsunami). The current "boots on the ground" model where FEMA often crowds out local responders simply doesn't work. This means a slimmer FEMA with staffed by emergency management and logistics experts with a high sense of urgency when disaster strikes. No matter what, the local mayor, etc., will care more about the recovery of his city and region than people in Washington.
- With the above in mind, move FEMA's headquarters out of Washington -- NOW! Maybe put it in St. Louis. The hyper-political atmosphere of Washington doesn't do FEMA any good. In Washington, regardless of party, politics is always the #1 priority. Far outside of the Beltway, hopefully the official mission of FEMA will become the agency's first priority.
- DEI is poison and FEMA has no business worrying about climate change. FEMA's job is to carry out their mission in major disasters regardless of the cause(s). DEI and climate positions should be eliminated immediately as they distract the agency from focusing on what is important.
- FEMA should not be in the business of "creating greenways" and reorganizing communities. This causes a lot of friction. Local people should determine their post-disaster future. "But what about flood insurance continually rebuilding homes in flood plains?" which is a fair question. That should be worked out, in advance, in communities' disaster recovery plans, not by FEMA on the fly.
- The federal government and FEMA's actions have distorted the homeowner's insurance market. This needs to stop. The insured should get the benefit of their policies immediately, not chasing FEMA reps for $750 in short-term funds. If Congress needs to intervene, this is a rare time I will stay "okay." We need to be careful not to create counterproductive incentives. People who have faithfully paid their homeowners insurance premiums should be treated better than those who have "gone bare." It is not the job of the taxpayer to bail out beachfront mansion owners struck by hurricanes.
- With the above in mind, What do we do with people who have lost everything and chose not to carry insurance? This is a tough one. The best model I can think of is the Small Business Administration. The government could be a loan guarantor of last resort. The debt for these loans should not be dischargeable in bankruptcy court. There may be better ideas which certainly should be considered.
- After about the first ten days after a disaster, there is always a shortage of roofers, carpenters, contractors, et cetera. This because, in part, that these trades have state licenses. I propose that FEMA be authorized to create an interstate license authorizing the trades to work in a federally declared disaster area (only) for a fixed duration. A lot of the recovery momentum can be lost with blue tarps covering the community for months. A FEMA license will also assure victims the out-of-state contractor is not a scumbag.
The above is a start.
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