Will Arkansas and other states soon cover more of the costs of responding to natural disasters? They could if the Federal Emergency Management Agency enacts a plan its administrator described at a national conference in Little Rock recently.

FEMA’s Cameron Hamilton discussed the plan at the National Emergency Management Association’s annual conference Oct. 20. Politico obtained a recording of the private event and reported what it learned.

Hamilton told the emergency management officials that states should have enough financial reserves to start recovery efforts immediately after a disaster rather than wait for a federal declaration. Changes could occur in the next six months. He said he hoped for a future when fewer declarations would be needed because states could respond on their own.

Hamilton also said the Trump administration would create a “national mutual aid” process where states would help each other. He said the administration would seek to remove some of the environmental and historical preservation requirements that add bureaucracy to recovery efforts. 

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported that Arkansas has benefited from 14 weather-related major disaster declarations since 2016. The two most recent occurred in May 2025 after flooding, storms and tornadoes had struck the state in March and April. President Trump denied the state’s initial request for assistance after the first round of storms March 14. This occurred even after Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, his former press secretary, personally asked for his help.

The Democrat-Gazette also reported that the federal government has spent approximately $967 million in Arkansas in response to natural disasters since 2000, according to FEMA. States commonly contribute 25 cents for every 75 cents provided by the federal government, though the feds may pick up 90% of the cost for more severe disasters.

President Trump previously has called for abolishing FEMA. In the meantime, he has provided money to Republican states at greater rates than Democratic ones during his second term. Politico reported earlier this year that he had approved 89% of requests from states led by a Republican governor and represented by two Republican senators, but 23% of requests from states led by a Democratic governor and represented by two Democratic senators. It reported only percentages, not actual numbers. Previous presidents from both parties, including Trump in his first term, have approved most requests since FEMA was created in 1979.

Trump had also taken an average of 80 days to respond to requests from Democratic states and 39 days to respond to requests from Republican ones.

While FEMA funding should never be based on partisan considerations, the Trump administration’s plan to push more responsibility to the states is justified.

Arkansas ran a $655 million budget surplus last fiscal year and has $4 billion in reserves – the result of laudable responsible budgeting that was helped by billions of federal dollars flowing into the state. The federal government, meanwhile, ran a $2 trillion deficit and has a $40 trillion debt. 

Victims of natural disasters of course should be helped. But states, not the debt-ridden federal government, should handle disasters that are local in scale, such as most tornadoes. With $4 billion in the bank, Arkansas should have the money available to help its own people. If that’s not enough, it should put more money aside. Maybe some future president will not be inclined to help Republican-led states like Arkansas.

Meanwhile, the federal government should respond when major disasters occur, such as Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, or if an earthquake occurred along the New Madrid Fault anchored at Marked Tree. 

Just because federal money “feels” free does not mean it is. Whether it comes from Little Rock or Washington, D.C., it’s all government money, and it comes from taxpayers. One big difference is that federal dollars are partly borrowed, which means future taxpayers will bear the burden.

Politico reported that FEMA’s policies are largely guided by Congress, whose leaders haven’t seemed inclined to make changes so far. 

Still, those federal cuts eventually might come, and not just with FEMA. The government can’t keep spending money it doesn’t have forever.

In other words, Arkansas should plan to become less dependent on broke Uncle Sam and more prepared to fully help Arkansans recover quickly after a disaster strikes.

It’s the right thing to do, and the state might not have a choice.

© 2026 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Steve Brawner’s column is syndicated to 24 news outlets in Arkansas. Email him at brawnersteve@mac.com.