PPA 503 – The Public
Policy-Making Process
Lecture 6b – Policy Formulation and
Emergency Management
Problem Definition and AgendaSetting





Problem stream dominated by focusing events.
Policy stream: comprehensive emergency
management versus homeland security focus.
Politics stream: window generated by focusing event.
Mitigation, preparedness, and response for Hurricane
Katrina, August-September 2005.
A predictable surprise arises when leaders
unquestionably had all the data and insight they
needed to recognize the potential for, even the
inevitability of, a crisis, but failed to respond with
effective preventative action.
Problem Definition and AgendaSetting

Knowing the problem existed.







U.S. GAO, 1976, 1982.
New Orleans Times Picayune June 23-27,2002.
Civil Engineering Magazine, 2003.
National Geographic October 2004.
FEMA, Allbaugh, three most likely disasters (New Orleans,
California, New York), 2001.
FEMA, Hurricane Pam simulation, 2004.
Problem getting worse over time.

Numerous articles on the destruction of Louisiana
wetlands.
Problem Definition and AgendaSetting

High current costs, delayed benefits.


$2 billion to complete, $1 billion to upgrade to
Category 4 or 5, 30 years.
Certain costs, uncertain larger rewards.

Emergency management traditionally suffers from
discounting future events.
Problem Definition and AgendaSetting

Maintain status quo.


Incremental changes in New Orleans levee system
brought on by individual disasters.
Subversion by vocal minority.



Dominance of homeland security over emergency
preparedness.
Corruption in Louisiana.
Mississippi casinos and anti-gambling lobbying.
Policy Formulation

Presidential and congressional commissions
often drive the development of alternatives in
emergency management and homeland
security.
Policy Formulation

Homeland security.

Commissions.



Think tanks.





Hart-Rudman Commission.
Gilmore Commission.
RAND Corporation.
Brookings Institution.
Council on Foreign Relations.
ANSER Institute for Homeland Security.
Entrepreneurs.


Pre 9/11 – James Lee Witt, FEMA Director; Commissions;
President Clinton.
Post 9/11 – President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Attorney
General Ashcroft.
Policy Formulation

Emergency management—Post-Katrina.


Bush, George W. February 2006. The Federal Response to
Hurricane Katrina: Lessons Learned. White House:
Washington, DC. 24 February 2006
<www.whitehouse.gov/reports/katrina-lessons-learned/>.
Governor's Commission on Recovery, Rebuilding, and
Renewal. 31 December 2005. After Katrina: Building Back
Better Than Ever. Governor's Commission on Recovery,
Rebuilding, and Renewal: Jackson, MS. 17 May 2007
<http://hsgac.senate.gov/_files/Katrina/BBBTE.pdf>.
Policy Formulation

Emergency management—Post-Katrina.


U.S. Government Accountability Office. 2006.
Catastrophic disasters: Enhanced leadership, capabilities,
and accountability controls will improve the effectiveness
of the nation's preparedness, response, and recovery system
(GAO-06-618). Washington, DC: USGAO.
U.S. House. Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the
Preparation for and Response to Hurricane Katrina.
February 15 2006. A Failure of Initiative: The Final Report
of the Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the
Preparation for and Response to Hurricane Katrina.
Washington, DC: USGPO. 11 April 2006
<http://katrina.house.gov/full_katrina_report.htm>.
Policy Formulation

Emergency management—Post-Katrina.

U.S. Senate. Committee on Homeland Security
and Governmental Affairs. 2006. Hurricane
Katrina: A Nation Still Unprepared (S. Rept. 109322). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing
Office. 22 June 2006
<hsgac.senate.gov/_files/Katrina/ExecSum.pdf>.
White House Recommendations

Hurricane Katrina Critical Challenges









1. National Preparedness
2. Integrated Use of Military Capabilities
3. Communications
4. Logistics and Evacuations
5. Search and Rescue
6. Public Safety and Security
7. Public Health and Medical Support
8. Human Services
9. Mass Care and Housing
White House Recommendations

Hurricane Katrina Critical Challenges








10. Public Communications
11. Critical Infrastructure and Impact Assessment
12. Environmental Hazards and Debris Removal
13. Foreign Assistance
14. Non-Governmental Aid
15. Training, Exercises, and Lessons Learned
16. Homeland Security Professional Development and
Education
17. Citizen and Community Preparedness
Governor’s Commission
Recommendations

Infrastructure

Goals:



Embrace comprehensive planning principles that define
how we want to grow.
Think regionally.
Issue Areas:




Land use.
Transportation.
Public services.
Housing.
Governor’s Commission
Recommendations

Economic Development

Goals:





Develop tax incentives to encourage investment.
Develop business loan incentives.
Accelerate workforce training.
Provide affordable housing.
Issue Areas:




Tourism.
Small business.
Agriculture, forestry, and marine resources.
Defense and government contracting.
Governor’s Commission
Recommendations

Human Services

Goals:



Replace crucial infrastructure.
Seek value in collaborations and connections.
Issue Areas:



Education.
Health and human services.
Non-governmental organizations.
Governor’s Commission
Recommendations

Special Reports

Goals:



Connect the needs in each of the hurricane-affected communities
with resources available from federal and state government
agencies and from the nonprofit and private sectors.
Commit to rebuilding approaches that acknowledge the realities of
living in a hurricane zone.
Issue Areas:



Finance
Policy Recommendation
Roadmap to Accountability
GAO Recommendations

Key issues:





1. The actions of government agencies during Hurricane
Katrina that made positive contributions to the response
and recovery and those that were less positive;
2. Catastrophic disaster leadership roles and
responsibilities;
3. Capabilities to prepare for, respond to, and recover from
catastrophic disasters;
4. Recognizing the tension between the need for timely
action and the need for appropriate controls and
accountability mechanisms; and
5. Selected longer-term recovery issues, including the
rebuilding effort along the Gulf Coast.
GAO Recommendations

Key capabilities:






Situational assessment and awareness;
Emergency communications;
Evacuations;
Search and rescue;
Logistics; and
Mass care and sheltering.
GAO Recommendations

Key recommendations:






Restructure leadership functions to fix coordination problems;
Develop detailed implementation plans for the National Response Plan
(NRP) and its Catastrophic Incident Annex;
Provide guidance and direction for federal, state, and local planning,
training, and exercises;
Monitor federal agencies’ efforts to meet their responsibilities under the
NRP and the interim National Preparedness Goal;
Use risk management to assign finite resources for a catastrophic
disaster; and
Provide guidance on advanced procurement practices and procedures
for those federal agencies with roles and responsibilities under the NRP.
U.S. Senate Recommendations



Core Recommendation #1 – Create a new,
comprehensive emergency-management organization
within DHS to prepare for and respond to all disasters
and catastrophes.
Core Recommendation #2 – From the federal level
down, take a comprehensive all-hazards-plus
approach to emergency management.
Core Recommendation #3 – Establish regional strike
teams and enhance regional operations to provide
better coordination between federal agencies and the
states.
U.S. Senate Recommendations




Core Recommendation #4 – Build a true,
government-wide operations center to provide
enhanced situational awareness and manage
interagency coordination in a disaster.
Core Recommendation #5 – Renew and sustain
commitments at all levels of government to the
nation’s emergency management system.
Core Recommendation #6 – Strengthen the plans and
systems for the nation’s response to disasters and
catastrophes.
Core Recommendation #7 – Improve the nation’s
capacity to respond to catastrophic events.
Conclusion



Controversy boiled down to competing
problem definitions: homeland security versus
comprehensive emergency management.
9/11 made homeland security ascendant.
Katrina reinvigorated comprehensive
emergency management as a problem
definition and policy formulation model.