Kane County emergency management and public health warn grant delays and cuts could strain local programs

Scott Busecki, director of the Kane County Office of Emergency Management (OEM), briefed the committee on recent state legislative negotiations and a series of federal grant risks that OEM and local public-health officials say could strain county operations.

Busecki described work on Senate Bill 71 (rail and school safety). He said an earlier version of the bill would have required the county emergency-management office to develop evacuation plans for every school in the county — public and private — which he said would have been “a monumental task.” He said Kane County has about 175 public schools and an unknown number of private schools; McHenry County, which is smaller, estimated it would have needed four planners to comply. After negotiations involving county lobbyists and local partners, he said the current language places primary responsibility for school plans with the schools while the county provides technical assistance and data.

Busecki also described immediate federal funding concerns. He said the Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) allocation to Kane County this year is about $85,000 and that the payment — although approved — had not yet been received; staff were told the disbursement was being “slow-walked” and might require additional paperwork despite an existing lawsuit that ordered payment. Busecki said longer-term uncertainty about federal mitigation grants (sometimes referred to as BRIC — Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities) and cancellation of certain grant opportunities threatens planned mitigation work, including future updates to the county’s natural-hazard mitigation plan and the emergency operations plan (EOP), both of which have statutory update cycles.

Michael Isaacson, the health department legislative liaison, told the committee federal funding reductions are already affecting public-health programs. He said one grant reduction would create roughly a $700,000 hit to the health department and could affect multiple positions. Isaacson said much local public-health work depends on federal dollars that flow through state agencies and then to counties.

Why it matters: OEM and public-health planning and staffing rely on federal grants that county officials say are already approved or expected; delays, reduced awards or changed federal priorities could force staff reductions, delay mitigation planning and raise costs for the county.

Committee members discussed possible engagement with national associations (including NACo) and the role of lobbyists in safeguarding grant flows. No formal county vote was taken at the meeting; staff requested continued lobbyist assistance to press for timely disbursement and to pursue mitigation and planning grants.