Why Trump’s FEMA remake should worry Floridians

As a reporter, I know that Congressional hearings are changing over time and performance is greater than essential. But as a Floridian, I am under more Congressional scrutiny on one topic. President Donald Trump’s plan is to restructure the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

I say “change” because Trump’s plans are not clear, persuasive or inconsistent. He proposes eliminating FEMA and moving disaster management and recovery to the state. In January, Trump signed an executive order calling for a review of FEMA, including whether it would serve as a “support agency” for the state rather than a comprehensive umbrella for American disaster relief efforts.

Someone’s guess as to where this goes. Trump is an impulsive person and rarely cares about details or concerns about fallout. He telegraphs his desire for change and from there he is a subordinate who is eager to please it. However, the proposal deserves more public attention and debate as a deadly tornado destroys hurricane season in the central US and Atlantic days ahead. The starting point is simple. It’s ridiculous to assume that the state can manage it themselves.

First, let’s share the obvious things. FEMA can become slow and frustrating bureaucracy, failing storm victims and inflated taxpayer costs. The state has been able to play a greater role in both improving the victims’ claims experience and managing spending to help communities get back on track. Smart reforms include everything from simpler customer portals to better coordination between governments, insurance companies and charities to cramming money, to promoting reconstruction of devastated areas.

However, the state has the resources and a variety of experience in managing natural disasters. FEMA provides technical assistance and relief backgrounds that states cannot replicate and cannot afford to be ready.

FEMA also reminds us that America is more than a collection of 50 individual states. The wise idea of ​​creating a National Catastrophe Fund has gone nowhere, but FEMA serves as the next best alternative by serving as a national focus for disaster support and recovery. People are aware of the role of FEMA, and ties with state and local governments, charities and the private sector are essential to seeing communities recover.

That’s why Trump’s FEMA’s unfired future is so concerned. The agency has lost about a third of its full-time staff in recent months, with layoffs and acquisitions embracing thousands of employees from the FEMA workforce, leading to a massive brain drain from the American disaster safety net. Earlier this month, a representative FEMA administrator testified to Congress that he was fired the day after he publicly violated the administration and opposed the destruction of Congress. A recent internal review also warned that losses in resources and staffing have led to FEMA being “not ready” for the hurricane season that begins June 1st.

Florida’s Congressional delegation should raise bipartisan concerns. One early revision is to make FEMA an independent agency and remove it from the Department of Homeland Security giant range. Agents lack the independence and profile to work more nuanced with the state. Cabinet-level agents can also compete and take more responsibility for taxes.

Florida has the most flood-rising property in the United States, and the threat only increases as sea levels rise and bad weather tightens. Local governments in Tampa Bay have only set conditions now for freshwater floods and other inland effects from last year’s catastrophic storm. As local communities continue to recover and learn how to prepare better, residents deserve to know how Trump plans FEMA plans and how state and local leaders are shaping the outcomes. This silence and lack of public involvement from elected leaders is unacceptable.