Proposed cuts to FEMA could could hurt disaster-prone New Mexico

Yahoo

07-05-2025

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FEMA workers stationed along a road at a disaster recovery center in Glorieta, following the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire in 2022. (Photo by Bright Quashie for Source NM)
President Donald Trump's newly released spending proposal identifies more than $600 million to be cut from 'woke' grant programs overseen by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
That budget proposal, which needs Congressional approval, does not specify which programs or grants would be axed but says the cuts would enable FEMA to refocus on 'sound emergency management.' It also says the agency previously focused too much on 'intersectional' distribution of disaster aid, 'diversity and inclusion efforts' and 'multicultural training.'
'The Budget reduces bloat and waste while encouraging States and communities to build resilience and use their unique local knowledge and ample resources in disaster response,' Trump officials wrote in the budget summary about proposed changes at FEMA.
It's too soon to say what that could mean for disaster-prone New Mexico, local emergency management officials said. But they noted that the state has relied on hundreds of millions of federal dollars for a variety of programs in recent years, even excluding the roughly $5.5 billion FEMA oversees in a special compensation fund for the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire.
'If you were to tell me tomorrow that the federal government were going to turn off the spigot, I would tell you that we will do everything we possibly can in our power and the governor's power to take care of the citizens of New Mexico, but we as a state would struggle,' Deputy DHSEM Secretary Ali Rye told Source, noting that the state doesn't exactly have 'ample resources' for disaster response.
DHSEM's budget is a little more than $5 million and funds a core staff of just two people to handle disaster response. Apart from that, the agency relies almost entirely on federal grants, primarily through FEMA, Rye said, for personnel and programs. The Legislature approved funding for five more positions this session in various capacities, Rye said.
A FEMA formula, based on the state's population, calculates that New Mexico can withstand about $4 million in damage from a natural disaster before a federal disaster declaration would be necessary here.
Once that threshold is reached, state officials apply to FEMA for a Presidential Disaster Declaration, which allows the agency to show up in the state and offer a suite of federally funded programs, such as individual assistance for families affected and reimbursement of 75% of costs incurred by local governments and other public entities.
FEMA has allocated a little more than $1 billion for public entities following recent fires and floods here, according to numbers DHSEM spokesperson Danielle Silva provided, along with hundreds of millions in assistance for individuals.
Breakdown of federal disaster grants to New Mexico*:
FEMA Disaster Case Management
$25 million ($12M for Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire, $9M for South Fork/Salt Fires, $4M for Roswell-area flooding)
This program provides daily communications and program application advocacy and support for more than more than 2,000 NM households affected by disasters, including nearly 1,000 in Mora and San Miguel, Counties, more than 900 in Lincoln County and Mescalero Apache Reservation and more than 350 in Chaves County).
FEMA Public Assistance
$1.011 billion across all active disaster declarations
Funding supports 890 projects for state, local and nonprofit entities to cover costs for emergency response measures and infrastructure like buildings, utilities, roads and bridges
FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program
$148 million
Funding supports 86 mitigation projects statewide, including purchase of additional generators, hardening of potentially at-risk facilities and efforts to improve future disaster resilience.
HUD Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery
$141 million
NM Impact: Programs to address unmet needs for housing, infrastructure and economic revitalization in communities impacted by the South Fork Fire and Salt Fire, as well as the Chaves Flood event and Building Resiliency Center to serve Mora and San Miguel Counties for the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire recovery effort.
*According to NM DHSEM spokesperson Danielle Silva
But whether those thresholds still apply is an open question, Rye said. She noted that Trump denied Republican Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders' request for FEMA aid following severe rainstorms and tornadoes that killed at least three people.
'They haven't been using that formula,' Rye said. 'Right now we're all in a gray zone. We don't know where that threshold is, and we won't know until we apply for a federal declaration and we get either approved or denied.'
In addition to the uncertainty and threatened cuts, New Mexico already lost $4 million in expected FEMA funds through the agency's Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program, which was among billions in promised aid cut across the country.
While that promised funding aimed at reducing hazard risk hadn't been allocated, a number of worthy recipients applied, Silva said.
'We received a lot of project ideas, including improvements to low water crossings on bus routes, enhanced drainage systems, and clean drinking-water plans,' she said.
The proposed cuts come as New Mexico continues to deal with the fallout of three major natural disasters in three years, including two that occurred in 2024: the wildfires in New Mexico in 2022, along with the South Fork and Salt Fires in Ruidoso and Roswell-area flooding last year.
The last time the state experienced two federal disaster declarations in the same year was 2014. Excluding the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, the state had a reprieve of nearly a decade without any federal disaster declarations before the 2022 wildfires.
The acting FEMA secretary is scheduled to testify today before the House Appropriations Committee about her plan for FEMA, which the Department of Homeland Security oversees. Sources told E&E news that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem hopes to get rid of all FEMA preparedness programs.
Rye estimated that New Mexico has funding from about 15 preparedness grants currently.
If recent disaster declarations serve as any indication, the state would need $150 million to $200 million to adequately respond to natural disasters, Silva said. FEMA would reimburse most of those costs, but others the state would have to shoulder alone, like setting up emergency operations centers and conducting damage assessments.
New Mexico pays for those disasters via governor's executive orders coming from the state's general fund. Those executive orders are capped at $750,000, meaning the governor often has to issue dozens of them at once to cover all the costs.
Already this year, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has issued more than 130 such orders for the South Fork and Salt Fire and Roswell-area flooding, for example.
Despite the threat of funding cuts, Rye and Silva said that, no matter what happens, New Mexicans will be spared the cost of natural disasters.
'I would guarantee you right now, the governor will not allow the citizens to struggle,' she said, the next time a disaster occurs.