Essential Elements and Procedures of the Stafford Act

Stafford Act
Student's Name
University Affiliation
Professor's Name
Course Title
Due Date
Essential Elements of the Stafford Act
The Stafford Act is the law that breathes life into the Federal Emergency Management Agency, enabling it to address emergencies effectively. The following are the essential elements of the content of this act. First, it outlines the actions that the federal government should take to assist state and local governments in addressing disasters. Some of these actions include achieving enhanced coordination while addressing disasters/ providing relief programs, and encouraging states/local governments to have insurance policies so as to supplement the support from the federal government.
Secondly, the act provides the president the power to declare an emergency following the criteria outlined in the act. When the declaration is made, funds set aside by congress for disaster management can be used in responding to the emergency (Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2019). A great example of where this law was applied was in 2020 when the then-president declared a national emergency due to the outbreak of covid 19 disease. Thirdly, the act also provides the criteria that should be followed to determine what constitutes a national disaster. Additionally, the act provides a comprehensive overview of the nature of disasters and lays an excellent foundation to ensure a systematic way of responding to them.
Procedures of Stafford Act and Federalism
The dynamics of federalism are extensively illustrated in the procedures forming the Stafford Act. To start with, the local and state governments are supposed to be the first to respond to a disaster. Therefore, the states use their efforts to respond in the first phase. If the disaster strains the state and local governments, assistance can be sought from the federal governme...