The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Review Council is scheduled to deliver recommendations in November on the agency's future direction, according to an official at NAIC, the association of state insurance regulators.
The Review Council's Federal-State Coordination Subcommittee, chaired by Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin, is mapping FEMA's core capabilities and looking for ways to send work currently done by the agency back to the states, stated Alexander Swindle, senior policy advisor at NAIC, at its summer meeting in Minneapolis on August 12.
In May, FEMA requested information on disaster response from NAIC. NAIC responded with information on how state insurance regulators supported recent weather disaster recovery efforts in Virginia, Oklahoma, Tennessee and elsewhere.
"We called for improved coordination, streamlined NFIP [National Flood Insurance Program] claims and appeals, clear messaging on private versus federal coverage, and stronger alignment between FEMA funding and state based resilience programs," Swindle said. "We also emphasized the need for state insurance regulators to have a formal role in any federal mitigation program design."
NAIC has a FEMA working group and FEMA officials normally attend the association's meetings, but were
"Since March, the administration has advanced reforms aimed at reducing the federal footprint in disaster response, shifting FEMA's role and placing more responsibility on the states," Swindle said. "These changes are going to have some pretty significant implications for mitigation, consumer protection and insurance markets."
