Breaking Down the Homeland Security Funding Deal with Yucel Ors

NLC public safety legislative director Yucel Ors breaks down what the recently ended Department of Homeland Security (DHS) federal shutdown means for local government. The DHS shutdown began on February 15th after Congress failed to pass a funding bill. Finally, last week, on Thursday, April 30, the longest shutdown of a federal department in U.S. history came to an end when the President signed a bill to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security after the House reached a breakthrough.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:07

Welcome back to CitySpeak. I am your host, Irma Esparza Diggs, Senior Executive with the National League of Cities. Cityspeak gives listeners an insider's view of what local leadership in America means today and features conversations with government leaders and policy experts regarding the biggest issues and challenges facing America's cities, towns, and villages. Today, we are focused on the recent partial government shutdown that affected the Department of Homeland Security. The DHS shutdown began on February 15th after Congress failed to pass a funding bill. Finally, on Thursday, April 30th, after 76 days, the longest shutdown of a federal department in U.S. history came to an end when the president signed a bill to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security after the House finally reached a breakthrough. To help us break down what it means for local governments and the constituents they serve, I'm joined by Eugel Orrz, NLC's Legislative Director for Public Safety and Crime Prevention, welcome to Cityspeak. It's great to have you.

SPEAKER_00 1:27

Thank you very much. Very nice to be here.

SPEAKER_02 1:29

So let's get into these questions today because so many local leaders are interested in what this means. Can you briefly discuss the federal local partnerships between cities and DHS? What does it mean?

SPEAKER_00 1:45

Sure. Um DHS is uh Department of Homeland Security is one of the most essential federal agencies uh out there. It's basically um it was created after uh 9-11 uh to ensure that as uh our uh cities and and towns and villages could be experiencing not only man-made disasters or man uh but also natural disasters. So the Department of Homeland Security is essential components are um for safety and security, for uh basically from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which helps uh uh local governments uh recover after a disaster, prepare for those disasters. So FEMA also, in addition, has a lot of training programs for law enforcement, for firefighters, uh, for uh disaster recovery operations. So, again, there's a lot of good components of the Department of Homeland Security. Unfortunately, when these things get shut down, local governments lose access to those resources. So that has a severe impact in our uh ability to be prepared and recover quickly from disaster.

SPEAKER_02 3:03

Thank you. So, though the shutdown has ended and DHS has reopened, how did that long-term uncertainty and those lapses in funding affect planning at the local level, given how important that federal partnership is with DHS?

SPEAKER_00 3:24

Sure. Um, one of the biggest impacts is uh local budgets, when you're preparing a budget, you have to uh compensate for how long it's gonna take for those uh programs and everything else. Delays in funding, which many communities are have seen uh because of the shutdown, but even before the shutdown, they were seeing delays in receiving the the funds necessary for uh flood mitigation assistance, for disaster mitigation and everything else. Those types of delays are gonna cost local governments increase those costs on and making sure that their communities can mitigate the risk. So uh these delays can really actually, some of them can actually uh uh uh stop uh some of these uh programs, stop some of the mitigation efforts if it becomes too costly. The uh governments, uh local governments often have to take out loans uh to uh provide these, and they get reimbursed from the federal government. And when that reimbursement is delayed, there's interest costs and everything else.

SPEAKER_02 4:31

And all of that costs not just the local government more, but the residents as well in the long term with those delayed projects. Thank you for that. What takeaways should cities, towns, and villages glean from this DHS shutdown to strengthen the federal local partnership and really reduce disruption in the future?

SPEAKER_00 4:53

Sure. And unfortunately, we're seeing more and more of these shutdowns occur um uh over the last several years. Uh shutdowns has almost become a normal uh aspect of uh the appropriations process in the federal government. I think what uh local governments have to be prepared for is that uh future shutdowns are most likely could continue uh year after year. Um they have to take in those risk considerations that the uh reliance on federal assistance could be in jeopardy as we continue. And if we can't keep the government running, local governments don't shut down, and neither should the federal government. But if the federal government is shutting down, it's gonna have a severe impact. And I think we just have to understand our partnerships uh and the risks associated with uh the shutdowns could have uh enormous impact on local governments.

SPEAKER_02 5:55

Thank you. So planning for that uncertainty, because unfortunately, as you've stated, government shutdowns are now the norm. Um it is uh a difficult place to be in for local leaders. So let me ask you then, what can local leaders expect in terms of re-engagement and support from DHS now that it's reopened?

SPEAKER_00 6:20

I think what we can expect is there's gonna be a backlog uh within uh Department of Homeland Security, especially with the grant administration and everything else. I think uh the best thing to uh now that it is reopened, um, local governments, local officials, if they have a federal grants, if they are expecting any uh funding from FEMA, from Department of Homeland Security, uh what they should be reaching out immediately to their regional representatives and to their uh members of Congress, making sure that their members of Congress are hearing uh from them to expedite their uh issues uh within Homeland Security.

SPEAKER_02 7:03

Absolutely, you Joel. That is great advice. And really, those regional DHS offices, as well as their um members of Congress, walking through what the impact of the shutdown has been uh is imperative to be able to help mitigate the impact or harm of these future shutdowns. So thank you for that. In general, how can local leaders make their voices heard to Congress to advocate for the passage of holistic funding bills and to avoid even being here in the first place?

SPEAKER_00 7:41

Uh the best thing they can do is uh show what's happening at the local level. Sometimes uh members of Congress assume the federal government shutdown is only about the federal government and not the local impact it has on local governments. So I think the best way to make sure they understand their inability to pass full-year appropriations through normal process has severe impacts, and we have to elevate what is really happening at the local level uh when these shutdowns occur. Especially this unprecedented shutdown of 76 days uh is is unheard of. But it if it becomes a normal, we are going to need to have Congress take responsibility for what is happening. And Congress has to be uh know how it's impacting local governments, their communities, their residents, their own voters who also vote for their mayors and their council members. We uh are in a partnership.

SPEAKER_02 8:46

So, usually, what does this mean for federal funding coming from the Department of Homeland Security, in particular, those public safety grants that went to local governments? What does this agreement mean for what local leaders can count on for either this fiscal year or for next fiscal year?

SPEAKER_00 9:07

So the agreement uh does provide full-year uh appropriations for Department of Homeland Security for 2026, FY 2026. That means those grant programs will uh all the flood mitigation assistance, the disaster mitigation grant programs and the like are going to be fully funded. Fire assistance grants uh for firefighters for staffing and equipment will be fully funded for 2026. Those applications, while they Department of Homeland Security, because of the uh shutdown, is still again backlogged in the FY 2025 grant applications, but we do expect the 2026 announcements to come out uh uh sometime this summer. So there will be a lot of funding. They just have to work through the backlogs and get to the 2026 funding as well.

SPEAKER_02 10:02

And our members can stay informed about those notices of funding uh opportunities that will become available for FY26 in our email communications uh that happen on a bi-weekly basis. Usual, I have one additional question for you in terms of FEMA and what we can now expect, because I do know that the FEMA, the report from the FEMA Review Council was put on hold as a result of this delay. What can we expect in terms of uh looking at FEMA and FEMA's operations?

SPEAKER_00 10:43

We we can expect the FEMA Review Council, they are holding their final meeting on May 7th now that it has reopened, Department of Homeland Security. Uh, we can expect that review council report to be submitted to the president uh shortly after that meeting. Uh the recommendations within that report will most likely have a considerable uh impact on federal agency operations. Um, but understanding that uh any real reform in FEMA will have to be uh uh part of uh congressional legislation. Uh uh and FEMA um Congress is considering uh the uh FEMA Reform Act, FEMA Act, uh in the House. Um, but we will see most likely once the review council comes out with their recommendations, quick action, and on the legislative side, uh try to figure out how to reform uh establish, put reforms in to make FEMA stronger. Uh our goal is to make sure FEMA continues a strong partnership with local governments and and the burden of uh from uh uh uh when a disaster occurs, uh the burden of uh recovery is not largely shifted on to local governments which do not have the resources uh to uh um do not have the staffing resources, the uh expertise, and the financial resources to recover. Many of these disasters definitely need a strong federal uh partnership uh in FEMA. So we are looking closely at the FEMA recommendations and we will be working with our members to inform them what those recommendations will mean to their local uh governments. The disaster recovery fund, and again with the 2026 full appropriations, what was happening is that fund was very close to being uh zeroed out. Now, with these appropriations, uh there would be additional money. So as we were coming into hurricane season and everything else, that's that was one of the most important things as well, that that recovery funds are back in into that disaster recovery fund.

SPEAKER_02 13:02

Thank you so much, Yujo. And on that point, I think it is important to say, as you were talking with your congressional delegations, it's important to not just talk about the impact of what happens when there is the shutdown of critical agencies that are a lifeline really for local governments, but also how important it is moving forward to have that certainty uh with critical programs that are really life-saving and really about maintaining the public safety of entire communities, uh, a lot of which um they work to plan for, but don't necessarily have the capacity or the infrastructure to manage. So thank you so much for the information you've provided today, you Joe.

SPEAKER_00 13:52

Thank you.

NLC 14:00

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