County officials warn of federal grant uncertainty and urge state backfill for EMPG and BRIC funding

County emergency managers and association representatives told the House committee that counties are the ‘‘boots on the ground’’ for all emergencies and that recent federal changes have added uncertainty to critical grant programs.

Tim Dooley (Association of Oregon Counties) and Brian Lee (Benton County emergency manager) said the Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) — which funds roughly half of emergency management salaries in many counties — and the BRIC resilient infrastructure grant program are delayed or under litigation, and that terms and certification requirements in several federal notices of funding opportunity have complicated compliance. Officials said federal changes signal a devolution of responsibilities to state and local governments and that if federal support shrinks, local programs will struggle to sustain operations without replacement funding.

Speakers described three primary revenue sources for local emergency management — federal grants, county general funds and state support — and asked the Legislature to consider a range of options from low‑cost statutory updates to higher‑cost appropriations. Proposed near‑term measures included a biennial fund to reimburse incident management team per diems and lodging ($60,000–$75,000 estimate for the biennium) and restoring or pre‑funding an Oregon Disaster Response Fund to reduce reliance on delayed federal reimbursements.

Presenters also urged the Legislature to review ORS Chapter 401 (emergency management statute), consider standards and practices for emergency managers, and to work with local partners to identify sustainable staffing and grant‑matching strategies. They noted that many smaller counties operate emergency management with one or two staff who carry multiple duties and that recovery expenses — debris, damage assessment, mass‑fatality planning — can overwhelm local budgets when federal thresholds are not met.