From History Today:

Elevating Emergency Management to the Executive Suite

The Strategic Imperative of Emergency Management Leadership

“Emergency management is one of the most consequential functions in state government, yet in most states it is not positioned that way. Today, only about 27 percent of state emergency management directors report directly to their Governor. The rest operate through additional layers of bureaucracy, despite being responsible for coordinating life-saving decisions during disasters. This column makes a straightforward business case: state emergency management directors should work directly for the Governor, with full executive-level access, because the mission demands speed, clarity, authority, and leadership at the highest level of government.”