Homeland Security

Governors play a critical role in homeland security and are responsible for protecting people, property, and businesses within their respective states and territories. Governors are confronted with a range of events—from natural and man-made disasters, disease outbreaks, acts of terrorism, and other major emergencies— such as catastrophes on the scale of COVID-19, Hurricane Maria, or the September 11 terrorist attacks. The Homeland Security Program provides technical assistance to Governors and their staffs on a range of national security policy issues, including violence prevention, energy assurance, public health emergency preparedness, and emergency management, including disaster response, recovery and resilience.

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The Governor’s Guide To Public Health Preparedness

This guide serves as a primer on public health preparedness, detailing current strategies, available resources and existing partnerships that may help policymakers bridge the gap between the disciplines of public safety and public health. By doing so, governors can develop a stronger cooperative network for emergency response and provide their states with a safe and healthy future.


Governor’s Roadmap to Preventing Targeted Violence

This roadmap distills the latest research and draws from elements of public-health interventions to provide guidance to governors, state and local leaders, and other stakeholders on how to prevent ideologically inspired violence—whether political, gender-based, or religious. By taking a multidisciplinary, collaborative approach to preventing such violence, states can build safer and more resilient communities.


Governor’s Guide To Homeland Security

This guide covers fundamentals in homeland security best practices ranging from emergency management, fusion centers, grant management, the national guard, emergency declarations, critical infrastructure and other areas of homeland security that a governor and their policy staff would need awareness on.

Governors Homeland Security Advisors Council

The Homeland Security Program manages the independently charted Governors Homeland Security Advisors Council, a forum that brings together governors’ principal homeland security advisors from each state, commonwealth, territory, and the District of Columbia to share best practices and establish policy priorities. The Council is compromised of individuals with a variety of professional backgrounds as their homeland security advisors – from military officers to law enforcement professionals, and emergency manager.


Virtual Resource Center for Public Health Emergency Preparedness

This virtual resource center is a repository for state-focused resources pertaining to public health emergency preparedness policy. The resources are targeted at state leaders in the fields of public health, emergency management, and administration, although due to the cross-disciplinary nature of public health emergency preparedness, a broader audience may find these tools useful.


Meet the Team

  • Jessica Davenport, Program Director
  • Phil Nichols, Senior Policy Analyst
  • Michelle Blakeslee, Policy Analyst
  • Camille Lodugnon, Policy Coordinator
  • Public Safety & Legal Counsels Program

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  • Cybersecurity Program

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  • Technical Assistance

    We provide complimentary consultation to states as they design and implement new programs and policies.

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  • Equity And Policy Preparedness During Public Health Emergencies

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  • Defense/National Guard Resources

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  • Resilience Resources

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Homeland Security Resources

Air Force Commission

The President The White House Washington, D.C. 20500 Dear Mr. President: The 2013 National Defense Authorization Act created an independent National Commission on the Structure of the Air Force (Commission) ...

Improving Preparedness Through Sharing Public Health and Homeland Security Information

Governors can play an active role in improving how state and local agencies work together to produce useful homeland security and public health information during a disaster, according to a ...

Testimony – Homeland Security Grant Reform

Chairman Bilirakis, Ranking Member Richardson, distinguished members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today on the important issue of ensuring that homeland security grants ...

Testimony – REAL ID

Chairman Sensenbrenner, Ranking Member Scott, distinguished members of the committee; my name is David Quam, Director of Federal Relations for the National Governors Association (NGA). I appreciate the opportunity to ...

Testimony – Governor Markell D Block

Chairman Rockefeller, Ranking Member Hutchison and distinguished members of the committee, my name is Jack Markell, Governor of the state of Delaware and a member of the National Governors Association’s ...

Testimony – D Block Senate Commerce

On behalf of the nation’s governors, the National Governors Association (NGA) wishes to thank Chairman Rockefeller, Ranking Member Hutchison and the members of the Committee for examining how to best ...

Testimony – Children and Disasters

Chairman Landrieu, Ranking Member Graham and distinguished members of the Committee, on behalf of the nation’s governors, thank you for the opportunity to testify today regarding the state role in ...

Testimony – Homeland Security Grants

The National Governors Association (NGA) wishes to thank Chairman Cuellar, Ranking Member Rogers, and other distinguished members of the Subcommittee for holding this hearing and allowing governors the opportunity to ...

Testimony – PASS ID

Chairman Lieberman, Ranking Member Collins and distinguished members of the committee, my name is Jim Douglas, Governor of the state of Vermont and Vice Chair of the National Governors Association ...