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Emergency Services Budget Focuses on Response Levels

The new budget for the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services is smaller than last year's model, as might be expected during an economic downturn, but it reflects a steadfast commitment to emergency response and the technology to do that.

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In a new financial downturn brought on by COVID-19, California’s new, smaller 2020-2021 Fiscal Year budget is providing funding for one state emergency agency to maintain several response initiatives with a grounding in technology.

In its new $1.74 billion budget, enacted in late June and slightly smaller than last year’s model, the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) received the financial wherewithal it needs to move forward in three areas where it will simultaneously offer crucial security and wield technology.

“We understand that we’re falling on tough times but it’s important to maintain the level of response capabilities that we have,” CalOES spokesman Brian Ferguson told Techwire, praising Gov. Gavin Newsom, whom he said visited the office immediately after his swearing in on Jan. 7, 2019. “He truly believes in the importance of this,” Ferguson said. Among the takeaways:

Details changed as the budget was worked out, Ferguson said, but ultimately, the office received $2 million in ongoing General Fund money to operate the Wildfire Forecast and Threat Intelligence Integration Center in partnership with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the California Public Utilities Commission, and the California Military Department (CMD). That includes startup costs for Center, which would be staffed out of the State Operations Center at CalOES, Ferguson said.

• The Office also received $7.6 million from the General Fund, and the commitment of $8.1 million in FY 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 for “additional capacity” at the California Cybersecurity Integration Center (Cal-CSIC), a collaboration between CalOES, CMD, the California Highway Patrol and the California Department of Technology. CalOES “implements the state's homeland security strategy by overseeing the California Cybersecurity Integration Center (Cal-CSIC) and the State Threat Assessment System (STAS), which includes management of the State Threat Assessment Center,” it said in the budget, noting the System assists in the state’s response to “criminal and terrorist activity” as well as information and intelligence sharing. The money, Ferguson said, will go toward “continuing to enhance Cal-CSIC, but make that more robust in light of our changing threat environment.”

“Which is even more important in the era of COVID as we find more Californians working remotely and in need of online tools to communicate. It will fund a variety of initiatives, both staff and structure,” he said.

• The budget also supports the California Earthquake Early Warning System with $17.3 million in FY 2020-2021 from the California Earthquake Safety Fund in 2020-21, which is backstopped by a “one-time” School Land Bank Fund loan “while ongoing revenue options continue to be evaluated and pursued,” per the budget. The money will pay for “system operations and program management, an education and outreach campaign, and research and development to expand earthquake mitigation uses.”

This is the “second budget year in a row” that Gov. Gavin Newsom has included that amount of funding in his proposed budget, Ferguson said, indicating it will support measures including ground sensors, physical infrastructure and “the back end telemetry that enables us to get that data quickly … .” Beyond the current loan, the idea, he added, is that the state will eventually “determine a permanent funding source” for the system.

Theo Douglas is Assistant Managing Editor of Industry Insider — California.