Dispute Keeps State From Emergency Pact

A dispute between Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s administration and unionized firefighters has prevented California from joining a pact that helps states share emergency aid after disasters like Hurricane Katrina.

Only California and Hawaii are not members of the 1996 Emergency Management Assistance Compact. The administration says California’s failure to join the agreement could hamper the state’s ability to give and receive disaster help, prompting the governor to try to push through legislation this week allowing the state to join.

“While there is so much focus on Katrina, the reason for this bill is to eliminate the red tape on the front end in the event we have a disaster here in California and we need the assistance from other states,” said Margita Thompson, Schwarzenegger’s spokeswoman.

The administration could not identify an instance in which non-membership in the emergency management organization had hampered California’s response to the Katrina disaster. A 1977 civil defense compact -- which has been superseded by the organization in many states -- still allowed Schwarzenegger to send 116 California Highway Patrol officers to Louisiana. In addition, eight water-rescue teams, including some from the Los Angeles city and county fire departments, have gone.

Schwarzenegger and Republican lawmakers proposed joining the pact this year, but Democrats in the Legislature balked because of concerns of the California Professional Firefighters, a 30,000-member union of firefighters from across California who are among the Democrats’ biggest supporters.

At the heart of their concerns are provisions in the compact that would place California responders under the laws of the state where they have been deployed. The firefighters fear they could be sued in other states under harsher tort laws than California has, or receive fewer death and disability benefits than California law provides.

Democratic lawmakers have offered legislation this year that would allow California to join the latest compact while preserving the state’s protections for its firefighters and other responders. But the administration says all of the compact’s members must agree to the same terms.

Carroll Wills, a spokesman for the firefighters’ union, said, “Obviously we’re very concerned about how mutual aid is provided, but we’re not the ones blocking this bill.”

The governor “should be congratulating California firefighters and his own Office of Emergency Services for the job they’ve done in responding to Katrina,” Wills said.