Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Emergency Management Funding topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Bill to provide stable state funding for local emergency managers laid over after testimony from tribes and counties
Summary
House File 2099 would appropriate $12 million per year to be distributed equally among Minnesota's 87 counties, 11 tribes and four first-class cities to sustain emergency-management positions and preparedness; tribal and county emergency managers testified in favor and the committee laid the bill over.
Representative Johnson presented House File 2099, a bill that would appropriate $12 million in fiscal year 2026 and another $12 million in fiscal year 2027 to be distributed equally among Minnesota's 87 counties, 11 federally recognized tribes and four cities of the first class to support local emergency-management functions.
Johnson said emergency managers coordinate planning, preparedness and recovery and that many local jurisdictions face elimination or consolidation of those positions because of uneven funding. "Without emergency managers in place, our ability to prepare for and respond to disasters is severely weakened," Johnson said.
Ed Snedzir, Emergency Manager for White Earth Band of Chippewa and vice president of the Association of Minnesota Emergency Managers, described the role emergency managers play in coordinating responses to floods, wildfires, train derailments and public-health incidents and emphasized that local multi-hazard mitigation plans are required to access federal mitigation funds. "Natural hazard mitigation saves on average of $6 per every $1 spent on federal mitigation grants," Snedzir said, and noted tribal plans and federal EMPG assistance have been subject to cuts.
Meeker County Commissioner Steve Schmidt and other county representatives urged support, saying many counties do not have full-time emergency managers and that federal requirements remain the same regardless of jurisdiction size. "This funding will provide essential resources to address these challenges, enabling all counties, tribes, and cities of the first class to move toward dedicated full time emergency management personnel," Schmidt said, noting the funding could help with training, equipment and planning.
Representative Johnson said the equal distribution equates to roughly $117,000 per entity and would allow jurisdictions without dedicated emergency-manager positions to fund one. Representative Hudson asked about equal distribution across widely different populations; Johnson said the approach gives each jurisdiction flexibility to meet its own needs, whether that is sirens in Duluth or planning and mitigation on a reservation.
Committee members asked questions and commissioners stressed the need for dedicated positions rather than part-time arrangements. The committee laid the bill over for further consideration.
