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BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz is among roughly 30 county leaders from across the country in Washington D.C. advocating for reform to FEMA, the agency that coordinates federal response to natural disasters. President Donald Trump has said he wants to phase out FEMA, which stands for Federal Emergency Management Agency, citing costs and wanting to have states be the main responders when it comes to natural disasters. Poloncarz and other county leader from across the country are advocating for changes to FEMA, including simplifying disaster applications, transitioning from a reimbursement-based model to a grant-based model for FEMA public assistance, a public assistance dashboard in an effort to increase transparency and loan interest payment relief. A bipartisan bill is currently in the House to pass the bill, but there is not a companion bill in the Senate. The act was already passed by the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee by a vote of 57-3. "I think the floods earlier this year in Texas were eye-opening to quite a few members of the House and the Senate who may have been in favor of eliminating FEMA, but then realized the cost to respond to those floods in Texas were so astronomical, that there's no way state and local governments could handle it on their own," Poloncarz said. The Buffalo blizzard of 1977 is considered to be a catalyst for the creation of FEMA. The blizzard was the first in U.S. history to be declared a disaster after a plea from local officials to former President Jimmy Carter. FEMA was formally launched in 1979. In 2022 Governor Kathy Hochul secured FEMA assistance from former President Joe Biden in response to the 2022 blizzard. FEMA is typically used for hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires, but FEMA does give out assistance for blizzards. "As we've seen with almost every natural disaster they've gotten worse with climate change," Poloncarz said. "We have to have the tools at our disposal to respond when things go bad."
