VEMA Board Member Updates:

The VEMA Board of Directors will be meeting on June 26^th to review the 2024-2025 operating budget in preparation for the beginning of the fiscal year on July 1. We are looking forward to seeing all the wonderful projects that VEMA can support next year. We would also like to thank Keith Dowler, Ruth Reich, and Alex Hannah for their service on the VEMA Board of Directors as the Private Sector, Military, and Student Representatives. We will be welcoming Felton Gilmore as our new Private Sector Representative, Jason Burrow as our Military Representative, and Isabella Carter as our Student Representative.  They will be appointed to begin their term starting July 1. Leigh Ann Erdman from the Veteran’s Administration was appointed as the Federal Sector representative to the Board after VEMS.  Also starting on July 1, Scott Kensinger will take over for Mike Guditus as a Region 2 rep. Thank you Mike for your service to Region 2!

Speaking of service – if you served on a committee this year, your committee chair should be reaching out to you to see if you want to continue to serve again this upcoming year.  We need to start the year with clean committee rosters of members who are still able to commit time to the committee work. If you do not want to serve and you haven’t heard from your committee chair yet, please reach out to the chair and VEMA office and ask them to take you off the list.  If you DO want to serve, we will be sending out a survey in the next week or two asking for people to sign up for a committee.  Please only signup for the committees that you will be able to provide your time to.  This is not an interest survey – this survey will add you to the committee.  Our membership and marketing and constitution and bylaws committees are most in need of assistance.

LCAR and VEMA

All locals know and love the LCAR! Our yearly programmatic capability assessment does take a fair amount of time to complete but I personally want to thank our partners at VDEM for working to improve the process for our benefit and working to make the data meaningful for everyone.

That being said, the data output is only as good as the data input. As most of you know, VEMA has a very robust and active legislative committee that works to advocate for the needs of emergency management in the Commonwealth. The needs we advocate for should be supported by data.  One data source we can draw on is the LCAR.  We are asking that localities be open and transparent on their LCAR to assist us in validating our advocacy efforts. As many of you know, we are currently advocating for dedicated funding for emergency management. One of those uses for dedicated funding is to help support staffing, especially for those localities who do not have a dedicated, full-time emergency management professional because that is what we hear is the greatest need across the Commonwealth. In fact, staffing insufficiency was highlighted repeatedly in the free text responses of the 2023 LCAR as a barrier to completing plans, policies, and other frameworks that enable emergency management programs to scale responses, obtain and manage financial resources, and pursue mitigation opportunities. However, 48% of emergency management programs last year reported sufficient staffing. What the LCAR is – it is a tool for strategic planning and a means for VEMA to support advocacy. What it is not – a report card. We know that we all have gaps and needs and that is okay!  Rest assured that all data we receive and analyze is anonymous. 

FY24 Preparedness Grant Reduction

You may or may not have seen that there is to be a 10% reduction in federal preparedness grants for the FY24 year. If not here is the link to the preparedness grants announcement from FEMA.  VEMA will be working closely with VDEM to analyze impacts and monitor the federal budget process to assess what we may anticipate for future federal grant funding opportunities that localities heavily rely on. 

Jess Robison, VEMA President