PEMA, State Fire Commissioner outline 2025–26 budget requests to expand mitigation, training and grants

Randy Padfield, director of the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, and Thomas Cook, state fire commissioner, told the House Appropriations Committee on Friday that the agencies’ 2025–26 budget requests are intended to preserve readiness, expand hazard mitigation and support the state’s volunteer and career fire services.

Padfield told the committee that PEMA’s mission spans preparedness, mitigation, response, recovery and 9‑1‑1 support and stressed the agency’s small size relative to its responsibilities. “PEMA is a small agency tasked with a large mission space that encompasses many components ranging from preparedness, mitigation efforts to response, recovery, and 9‑1‑1 services,” he said. He cited the agency’s work last year on Tropical Storm Debbie, a lake‑effect snow event in Erie, an influenza outbreak, a medical jet crash in Philadelphia and a recent industrial fire in Montgomery County as examples of its workload.

Why it matters: The budgets will shape state support for emergency response, hazard mitigation, 9‑1‑1 modernization and grant programs that local fire departments and counties rely on. The proposals include requests for new legislative authority and program funding that could change how state dollars are used for mitigation and local support.

Key items in the requests - Legislative authority for mitigation: Padfield said the budget proposes “taking legislative action to allow for existing funds at the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency to be used for mitigation projects in addition to emergency response.” The change is intended to make state match dollars more usable for pre‑disaster projects that reduce future damage and human suffering. - Fire Commission grants and workforce supports: Commissioner Thomas Cook described four primary program areas — financial assistance, prevention and community risk reduction, retention and recruitment, and training through the Pennsylvania State Fire Academy — and outlined proposals that include expanded competitive grants to fire companies and a pilot program to encourage municipal cooperation. Cook also noted the governor’s proposal for $30 million in competitive grants for fire companies and a proposed insurance benefit to cover annual cancer screenings for firefighters covered by private insurance. “This budget calls for legislative action to provide free cancer screenings for all firefighters covered by private insurance,” Cook said. - Training, accreditation and equipment: The Office of the State Fire Commissioner said it has modernized grant applications, increased loan approvals (approving over $27 million in loans in 2024), rolled out training partnerships and put a mobile live‑fire training unit into service to reach firefighters statewide. - Federal funding dependence and contingency concerns: Committee members pressed PEMA on the share of federal versus state funding that supports operations and grants. Padfield and staff acknowledged a high level of federal funding for many PEMA programs and said the agency is planning for contingencies if federal support changes.

Committee context and next steps Committee members questioned how proposed changes would be administered and whether the state must alter statute to permit the mitigation‑use changes. Padfield said PEMA will work with the legislature to modernize Title 35 and other authorities where necessary and emphasized the agency’s readiness to support counties during recovery. Cook said the Office of the State Fire Commissioner will work with its Fire Advisory Board and stakeholders to develop specifics for any new grant program and to refine eligibility and priorities.

Ending Both PEMA and the Office of the State Fire Commissioner said they will provide follow‑up information to the committee as requested and that they expect further legislative coordination on statutory changes and program design. The agencies’ requests will be considered during the committee’s budget deliberations.