By David Farmer,Staff Writer
Task force’s nine recommendations designed to improve state’s response to disaster.

AUGUSTA – Today is Fat Tuesday, and in New Orleans the party is still going on. But the celebrations, floats and Mardi Gras beads can’t dress up much of the city, which remains in tatters from the fury of Hurricane Katrina.

Looking to avoid many of the pitfalls that doomed the government’s response to the storm and has left the Gulf Coast region struggling for six months, Maine’s Homeland Security Task Force will make recommendations today to repair holes in emergency planning.

The task force’s interim report includes two pieces of legislation that would provide direct access between the governor and the director of the Maine Emergency Management Agency in times of emergency, make it easier for hospitals to share personnel, improve communications between localities and the state and federal government, and give the governor limited financial flexibility to respond to a crisis.

“The task force found that Maine is well prepared for natural- or human-made disasters,” said task force co-chairman Sen. Ethan Strimling, D-Portland. “But there are a few gaps that need to be filled.”

The task force, which includes a bipartisan delegation of six lawmakers and five members of the public, voted unanimously to make nine recommendations:

• Secure at least six public safety radio frequencies to be used as statewide disaster channels and require MEMA to conduct periodic tests of how first responders use public safety frequencies during an emergency.

• Mandate that the MEMA director be confirmed by the Legislature and have the education, training and experience in emergency management to do the job – a direct response to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s former director, Michael Brown, whose resume was lacking. Also, the state director would have direct access to the governor in case of emergency. Oversight of MEMA would be transferred from the Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee to the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee.

• Allow the governor to transfer up to $3 million into the Disaster Relief Fund from the Budget Stabilization Fund during a declared disaster.

• Require the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention and MEMA to coordinate their emergency preparedness spending and to report their plans to the Legislature.

• Require that new schools, which often serve as community shelters, include backup generators or be wired for portable generators, and direct MEMA to conduct a statewide survey of municipal notification systems, nursing home evacuation plans and shelter capabilities.

• Grant limited liability to hospitals so they can more easily share personnel during an emergency.

• Enhance the qualifications and authority of local health officers and provide regional resource centers with sufficient funding.

• Incorporate emergency planning and awareness into the public school curriculum, direct MEMA to evaluate how prepared schools are for an emergency and broadcast public service announcements.

• Ask Congress and the president to develop a new homeland security funding formula that provides states like Maine with a baseline amount of financial support.

The task force will present its interim report and legislation to Gov. John Baldacci at 2 p.m. today at the MEMA operations center. The group has several more meetings scheduled for this year and will submit a final report in December, Strimling said. Chemical security around the state, the readiness of the Maine National Guard and the public health system are on the agenda.