EMI "temporarily" closed

Back a few weeks (dog weeks at that) I shared the idea that there is nothing sacred to cost cutters and the Federal Emergency Management Institute (EMI) could be in jeopardy. So today there is this from the Washington Post, FEMA cancels firefighter training amid uncertainty over Trump cuts  While it says “Fire” it also includes all emergency management classes being cancelled for the time being. What I find frustrating is they don’t give anyone a warning. Something like, “Effective April 1st all training at EMI will be suspended.” This would allow for a more orderly process for cancelling classes and travel.

While we as emergency managers can give any number of reasons for why EMI should continue as an institution, I don’t think that those will hold much water with someone just looking to cut the budget. Get rid of all the travel costs! Conduct all classes “on-line” and to hell with relationship building or learning from other jurisdictions during social events.   

Time will tell if this is a temporary action, or we will soon see the EMI campus listed as one of the properties for sale on the GSA website where other federal buildings are now being offered up for sale.

Scream and shout all you want, but no one is really listening at this point. They are picking their battles, and I don’t see anyone in federal elected office looking to fall on their sword for EMI.

Write your congressman, but they better be a Republican to have any chance of making an impact. They are the one’s (sort of) in charge these days.