Harrisburg, PA – Earlier this week, the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) hosted the first quarterly meeting of the Emergency Readiness Advisory Group, which was established by Executive Order 2026-04 signed earlier this year by Governor Josh Shapiro.
While the federal government is erecting barriers and changing its role in responding to emergencies, I signed an Executive Order to establish a new task force of leaders to help fill the gaps — and I just left their first-ever meeting to thank everyone for their hard work and commitment to keeping Pennsylvanians safe.
Here in Pennsylvania, we act fast when the safety of our communities is on the line. And this group will work to ensure that state and local leaders have the resources they need to prepare for, respond to, and recover from future disasters regardless of what the federal government does.
— Govenor Josh Shapiro
“This meeting of the Emergency Readiness Advisory Group is just one of many planning and preparedness activities that the Shapiro Administration is taking to ensure that state government is ready to respond before, during and after an emergency,” said PEMA Director Randy Padfield. “When more than 20 state agencies and offices pull together like this, it really strengthens our whole‑of‑government effort to keep Pennsylvanians safe and support our emergency management partners across the state.”
This week’s meeting provided state agency leaders with the opportunity to share feedback on how changes in policy and fiscal support from the federal government impact both day-to-day and emergency operations.
The group also began working on one of the first priorities from Executive Order 2026-04, the creation of the Commonwealth Surge Workforce, a group of employees from across the Commonwealth who can be temporarily reassigned to support PEMA’s disaster recovery efforts on an as-needed basis. Group members will identify opportunities and develop the associated plans, policies, procedures, and training needed to build a greater surge workforce in anticipation of assuming more responsibility for emergency management functions for future disasters.
Executive Order 2026-04 also includes these other directives:
- PEMA, working with all state agencies under the Governor’s jurisdiction, will identify changes needed to existing state laws and policies, develop new plans as needed, update policies or procedures as required, and identify efficiencies to ensure Pennsylvania is well positioned to assume greater responsibility for disaster preparedness, response, and recovery functions in the future;
- State agencies – including PEMA and the Department of General Services – will review current contracts for products and services, make recommendations on any additional contracts that may be needed to support disaster response and simplify emergency management policies and procedures to ensure the Commonwealth has the capacity it needs to respond and recover as efficiently as possible in anticipation of reduced federal support; and
- Establish the Emergency Readiness Advisory Group, comprised of leaders from key state agencies and led by Director Padfield, to review all recommendations contained in the FEMA Review Council report which was released in May, determine strategies to ensure Pennsylvania has the needed resources and capabilities to respond to future disasters, and provide recommendations to the Governor.
Executive Order 2026-04 requires the Emergency Readiness Advisory Group to meet at least quarterly. It also allows for the creation of committees as required to study specific areas and make recommendations to the larger body.