As Washington zeroes in on disasters, counties must stay at the table

Key Takeaways

Disasters don’t check calendars. They don’t wait for elections, budget cycles or bureaucratic green lights. And they certainly don’t pause when a task force’s term is set to expire.

That’s why, as president of NACo, I’ve decided to extend the work of our Intergovernmental Disaster Reform Task Force. When we launched this group, it wasn’t just a ceremonial initiative — it was a response to a reality that county officials like you and I know all too well: We are on the frontlines of every disaster.

The task force was born out of hard experience. In my own county, we’ve faced nine presidentially declared disasters in the past seven years. That means nine times we’ve had to mobilize local resources, navigate red tape and fight for the attention of our state and federal partners. Some of those battles were won. Others revealed just how much more work we have to do.

What’s become clear to me — and to many of you — is that the current system isn’t built to keep pace with what’s coming. The federal government is starting to recognize this. From FEMA to Congress, there’s a growing appetite for reform. That’s good news. But let’s be clear: Reform without local input isn’t reform, it’s a missed opportunity.

That’s where counties come in. Our voices, our stories, our solutions — they belong at the center of this conversation. And this task force is how we make that happen.

Extending the task force means continuing the momentum we’ve built. It means taking the lessons we’ve learned on the ground and turning them into federal policy that works for all counties – big and small, coastal and inland, urban and rural. It means pushing for smarter, faster, more balanced disaster systems that reach the people and places that need them most.

So, to every county official reading this: Thank you. Thank you for showing up in times of crisis. Thank you for sharing your experiences with us. And thank you for standing together to shape a better system — not just for our own communities, but for counties across the nation.

We’re not done yet. Let’s keep going.