PPA 503 – The Public Policy-Making Process

1. PPA 503 – The Public Policy-Making Process Lecture 7b – Emergency Management and Policy Legitimation

2. Policy Legitimation • Legitimation is the official authorization of the policy decision or policy program • Legislatures most often do legitimation, although executives, bureaucracies, and courts can legitimize as well.

3. Emergency Management • Congress performed most of the changes in the emergency management field at the national level. • Federal Disaster Act of 1950 • Disaster Relief Act of 1966 • Disaster Relief Act of 1969 • Disaster Relief Act of 1970 • Disaster Relief Act of 1974 • Robert T. Stafford Disaster Assistance Amendments of 1988. • Disaster Mitigation and Preparedness Act of 2000. • Homeland Security Act of 2002. • Federal acts influenced legitimation activities at the state and local level. • However, most state and local acts predate federal intervention.

4. Aftermath of Katrina • In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, emergency management officials and elected politicians issued many recommendations for the improvement of federal emergency management. • Several elected politicians, including U.S. Representative Bennie Thompson (D-MS), U.S. Representative Bob Etheridge (D-NC), U.S. Senator Daniel Akaka (D-HI), U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), and U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), sponsored or supported legislation to make FEMA independent of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), establish a direct reporting line to the President, or both.

5. Aftermath of Katrina • IAEM and NEMA lobbied extensively during period from September 2005 to October 2006 to strengthen FEMA’s emergency management authority, bring preparedness back into FEMA as part of the comprehensive emergency management model, and increase funding for and maintain the natural disaster components of Emergency Management Performance Grants.

6. Aftermath of Katrina • After considerable debate, President Bush signed the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2007, on October 4, 2006. • Title VI of the Act (The Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 [Post-Katrina Act]) sought to restructure federal emergency management generally, and FEMA specifically, to answer the criticisms arising from the failures of governmental performance during Hurricane Katrina (Bea et al. 2006)

7. The Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 • The Post-Katrina Act transferred preparedness functions back into a restructured FEMA. • The Act requires FEMA “to lead and support efforts to reduce the loss of life and property and protect the nation from all hazards through a risk-based system that focuses on expanded [comprehensive emergency management] CEM components” (Bea et al. 2006, crs-7). The expanded concept of CEM includes “protection.”

8. The Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 • The Act granted FEMA independent status within DHS, similar to the status of the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Secret Service. • The Post-Katrina Act prohibited the Secretary of DHS from separating or transferring FEMA functions or resources, and required the Secretary to follow statutory appropriations requirements when allocating funding to FEMA.

9. The Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 • The FEMA Administrator (new title) has the rank of Deputy Secretary of DHS; reports directly to the President, the Homeland Security Council, and the Secretary of DHS; may receive Cabinet status during a national emergency; and must have emergency management or homeland security experience (although the White House has contested the limitation on presidential appointment power). • FEMA may also have up to four Deputy Administrators appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate.

10. The Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 • The Post-Katrina Act also requires FEMA to develop and maintain robust regional operations headed by regional administrators who have extensive emergency management and homeland security experience. • For disaster response, the Act also provides the Administrator greater authority to preposition resources or unilaterally provide assistance without a state request.

11. The Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 • The Act requires the appointment of a National Advisory Council and ten Regional Advisory Councils to provide state, local, nonprofit, and private expertise to FEMA and its regional offices. The Act also creates Regional Strike Teams to provide assistance during disasters. • The Act creates a Disability Coordinator, a Chief Medical Officer, and a Small State and Rural Advocate. The Administrator appoints the first, the President selects the third, and the President with the advice of the Senate chooses the second.

12. The Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 • Finally, the Act makes changes to ensure greater flexibility in the delivery of services and assistance during the response and recovery phases of a declared disaster.

13. Foreshadowing Implementation • Potential problems include competing world views in DHS and FEMA. • Resistance of Secretary of Homeland Security to reductions in authority over FEMA. • Shifting media attention and public interest.