GEMA asks for federal-match and NG911 funding after FEMA guidance shifts

The Georgia Emergency Management & Homeland Security Agency (GEMA) briefed the Senate subcommittee on several house-added budget items and federal grant developments that affect FY26 planning.

GEMA Director Josh Lamb told senators the agency’s amended budget includes a $5,700,000 increase to meet Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) match obligations and an added $9,900,000 to advance the first two years of a statewide GIS buildout supporting Next Generation 9‑1‑1 services. “This $5,700,000 increase allows Georgia to meet federal matching requirements for two emergency management performance grants,” Lamb said, noting that most GEMA funding (about 98%, he said) is federal grants that require state matches.

Lamb told the committee he learned “just yesterday” that FEMA has shifted back toward a three‑year period of performance after legal challenges changed grant rules; he said GEMA immediately began talks with the Office of Planning and Budget (OPB) to determine what adjustments are appropriate and that, absent a change, the money would still be used for projects and passthroughs to local partners. On the Protection of Communities grant, Lamb said the House added a $1,000,000 transfer directed at a competitive program intended to help at-risk communities, and he stated his understanding that the allocation was intended to support the Jewish community’s security needs.

Deputy Executive Director Alicia Wright and the Georgia Emergency Communications Authority (administratively attached to GEMA) described the NextGen 9‑1‑1 project’s progress: an earlier 2018 federal grant of $3.4M established GIS data standards and an online portal to help jurisdictions upload mapping data to a statewide standard. Wright said the additional funding will help build a base map and create a grant program enabling local jurisdictions to contract with regional vendors or use local GIS staff to meet standards; she estimated an RFP update and contract award could take about a year and said a working group to revise the RFP would stand up within roughly three months.

Committee members asked how quickly OPB talks could produce budget adjustments if federal guidance continues to change; Lamb said conversations started immediately and that the agency would work with OPB to refine allocations. Senators also asked about census-related population counts used for FEMA calculations; GEMA said it had not submitted revised counts because FEMA’s direction stated it was not needed at the time.

The committee did not take immediate action; members asked staff to remain engaged with GEMA and OPB as federal guidance evolves and to track how any adjusted match requirements would affect local passthroughs and the NextGen 9‑1‑1 schedule.