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Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management Crisis and Emergency Management Newsletter Website |
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April
2008
Volume
14
- Number 3 |
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Senator Barack Obama’s Proposal to Improve Federal Emergency Management By Theresa Fasceski “I don’t want FEMA to be thinking for one minute about the politics of a crisis. I want FEMA to do its job, which is protecting the American people – not protecting a President’s politics.” – Senator Barack Obama, New Orleans, Louisiana, Feb. 7, 2008. In his issue papers, Barack Obama: Strengthening Homeland Security and Barack Obama: Rebuilding the Gulf Coast and Preventing Future Catastrophes, Senator Barack Obama outlines his strategy to improve federal response to emergencies, in three broad categories. These papers provide a general overview of his proposals and not necessarily the methods to complete them. The first category for improvement is emergency preparedness. The biggest undertaking is to develop a National Response Plan in coordination with emergency management officials and emergency responders from all the states. This new plan will provide “real” cooperation between states, local and federal governments. Senator Obama also plans to increase funding, availability of federal resources and logistic support, and training to local emergency planning efforts, including development of interoperable communication systems. Secondly, Senator Obama plans to fix federal emergency response by addressing problems with FEMA’s and Small Business Administration’s structures. During the aftermath of Katrina, the SBA was overwhelmed with applications and did not have sufficient capital; Senator Obama will fix SBA’s bureaucracy so it can step in during a disaster and effectively provide assistance. Along with streamlining FEMA’s application process, the FEMA director will have professional emergency management experience, a fixed 6-year term and report directly to the President. Following disasters, Senator Obama will appoint a chief financial officer to oversee rebuilding and elevate the federal rebuilding coordinator to report directly to the President. Finally, Senator Obama will to address shortcomings in the federal and private insurance programs. He plans to reverse FEMA’s recent decision making local governments and nonprofits ineligible to receive help from FEMA to pay insurance deductibles if FEMA has assisted them previously. There is a plan to work with the insurance industry to set up an efficient catastrophic insurance “backstop” that protects homeowners and business owners against catastrophic loss. Private insurers contributing a portion of the premiums they collect from policyholders would fund this new National Catastrophic Insurance Reserve. With the creation of this program, victims would not have to solely rely on taxpayer federal disaster aid loans and insurers would no longer be forced out of high-risk markets. Sources: http://www.votesmart.org/speech_detail.php?sc_id=346104&keyword=&phrase=&contain= |