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GEMA warns of shifting FEMA rules, seeks flexibility for EMPG match and next-generation 9-1-1 buildout
Summary
GEMA director Josh Lamb told the appropriations subcommittee the agency added $5.7 million to meet EMPG matching requirements after FEMA changed performance windows, and described $9.9 million for two years of GIS work supporting Next Generation 9-1-1 and local grants to help jurisdictions meet mapping standards; a $1 million "Protection of Communities" grant was described as directed at Jewish communities.
Josh Lamb, director of the Georgia Emergency Management & Homeland Security Agency, told the Senate subcommittee the agency's amended FY26 budget reflects recent federal grant shifts and several house-added items.
Lamb said nearly all GEMA funding is federal ("approximately 98% of our funding is derived from federal grants") and that recent FEMA changes to the period of performance required a larger state match this year, prompting a $5.7 million EMPG match increase. He said yesterday's legal developments indicate FEMA may revert to a three-year period of performance, and GEMA is working with the Office of Planning and Budget (OPB) to adjust if that occurs. "With this change that you just heard about yesterday, do you need all the money that you have in there now?" the chair asked; Lamb replied talks are ongoing and adjustments may be possible.
Lamb also described a $1 million transfer, the Protection of Communities grant, which he said is a competitive program directed at protecting the Jewish community and would be administered alongside the federal nonprofit security grant program. Committee members asked whether the transfer is targeted or statewide; Lamb said it would be competitive and directed at that community.
On Next Generation 9-1-1, Lamb turned the presentation to Alicia Wright of the Georgia Emergency Communications Authority. Wright said the program builds on an earlier $3.4 million grant that created a GIS standard and an online portal for jurisdictions to upload mapping data and receive a "report card." The amended budget adds $9.9 million to continue GIS buildout and to provide grants to local governments to meet national mapping standards. Wright said the authority plans a revised RFP, a working group of subject-matter experts and local feedback, and anticipates it could be about a year before an award could be made for the overall project. "Typically, these RFPs are very in-depth, so I imagine it will be probably about a year before we could award the contract," Wright said.
The committee pressed GEMA and the 9-1-1 authority on implementation timing, consultant use, outreach to local governments (particularly rural jurisdictions) and how state and local roles will be balanced. The geospatial deputy said the state is at an early stage of an internal buildout but plans to fund local grants and offer carrots such as data and imagery, and that the highest barrier for some rural areas is resource capacity.
GEMA and the 9-1-1 authority committed to follow-up on FEMA's period-of-performance ruling, details of the $500,000 house-added emergency-services line item and the timeline for the RFP and working group.
