Require State and local government to meet preparedness standards to receive federal disaster assistance funds.

There are existing national standards for the establishment and maintenance of state and local government emergency management programs. Half of the states have not demonstrated compliance with these standards. Most local government programs have not attempted compliance with these standards. However, those who do not comply with minimum standards receive the same level of disaster assistance as those who do. There is no financial incentive/disincentive to meet standards. In the current political/economic environment with multiple concurrent billion dollar incidents, non-federal partners should be required to demonstrate comparable commitment to preparedness as the federal government by meeting existing national consensus standards for emergency management. Phase in the implementation.