Two-thirds of the city’s emergency management budget could be imperiled by Trump administration federal funding cuts, NYC Emergency Management Commissioner Zach Iscol testified Friday.
The agency relies on about $110 million in federal grants — but if the president follows through on threats to pull funding, much of that money could disappear, leaving the agency, which handles weather and health emergencies and lead the emergency response to the migrant crisis, strapped for cash.
Some key areas that could be impacted for the agency include: 160 jobs, or two-thirds of the agency’s headcount, weather forecasting and communications services and tens of millions of dollars in FEMA funds.
“Bottom line: We need to prepare for a world without FEMA. We need to prepare for a world in which we can’t necessarily depend upon the federal government for support during or after emergencies,” Iscol told the Daily News.
President Trump has said he’s considering “getting rid” of FEMA, which supplies the city with millions in aid, and cuts have also been made to the National Weather Service and other agencies that the city depends on.
Iscol said at the hearing that the funding drying up was a point of concern to him in part because of a five-year trend of federal funding falling: “So this is not something that is new, although there are significant changes that possibly could be occurring with this new administration.”
The commissioner said that his agency is starting a 90-day review to look at the risks of losing federal funding and how they could fill gaps to ensure the agency is not reliant on federal money in case of emergency — a remarkable shift for the agency, which has long operated with help from the feds.
“We’re doing this planning now to make sure that we don’t end up with a crisis situation,” Iscol said.
The agency collects federal and state grants throughout the fiscal year, resulting in a $200 million actual budget. The agency has been allocated $88.9 million in a preliminary budget plan that works as a baseline.
Just one council member, Joann Ariola, chair of the Committee on Fire and Emergency, was present for Iscol’s testimony.
The Trump administration has already shown a willingness to dip into the city’s FEMA allocations — a major funding stream for the local emergency management agency. The administration clawed back $80 million in FEMA payments to the city for managing the migrant crisis in February.
At a hearing last week, Jacques Jiha, Mayor Adams’ top budget official, said that City Hall couldn’t commit to using city funds to offset any possible federal cuts. The massive amount of cash in question is too much to take on, he said.
While Adams filed a lawsuit against Trump seeking to recoup the $80 million, he’s still been broadly criticized for a reticence to publicly criticize the president.
The mayor declined on Tuesday to give his opinion on the president’s trade wars and possible federal funding cuts, and he said that he hasn’t brought those issues up with Trump.
“No, I haven’t had those conversations with him about these,” Adams said.