Office of Emergency Management Director Trevor Denney sent the letter below to emergency management partners on Friday, September 5, 2025.
September 5, 2025
Dear Emergency Management EMPG Partners,
Last week, the Governor allocated $15 million to the Colorado Division of Homeland Security
and Emergency Management (DHSEM) as stopgap funding in case we do not receive federal preparedness grants. This crucial allocation, supported by Executive Director of Public Safety Stan Hilkey, and testimony from Division Director Kevin Klein recognizes the vital role of state, local, and tribal emergency management agencies in Colorado and the importance of supporting our local and tribal programs.
Effective October 1, 2025 and expiring June 30th of 2026, this funding will allow DHSEM to provide Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) awards to participating local and tribal programs, and secure federally-funded DHSEM positions for the short-term. On August 11, DHSEM received the federal fiscal year 2025 EMPG notice of funding opportunity (NOFO). The NOFO outlined a timeline for when states could anticipate the award, and also contained terms and conditions that included a provision related to immigration enforcement that DHS said were currently under review. To date, we have not received any clarification on the applicability of the terms and conditions that would prevent us from accepting an award, nor have we received updates on whether awards will be received by the states before September 30, after which
the FY25 funding will expire. With that said, we are working on two different scenarios on how a modified EMPG grant will be administered.
Scenario 1: Federal Award Without Immigration Terms and Conditions
If the state receives the FY 2025 EMPG award and terms and conditions related to immigration are not applied (meaning the state can accept the award), we will issue a new small-dollar grant agreement (SDGA) for the last quarter of this year for current applicants, and we will begin the process of opening the application period for the 2026 EMPG performance period and be back on the calendar year schedule. The 2026 grant applications will be contingent on the future of continued EMPG appropriations at the federal level.
Scenario 2: No Federal Award, or Immigration Terms and Conditions Apply
If the state does not receive the FY 2025 award, or the immigration terms and conditions apply (meaning we cannot accept the award), we will open up a new 3-quarter EMPG application period, which will run from Oct 1st of 2025, and will end on June 30 of 2026. This modified grant will be administered in the same manner as the current grant expiring on September 30; however, award amounts may differ based on the number of applicants.
The decision on which scenario we will pursue will occur on October 1, or potentially sooner should we receive actionable information. Hopefully, this will help you with your current budgeting and what to expect in the near future. Longer term, we will continue to work with our CDPS leadership and the Governor’s Office on alternative and future funding opportunities.
We appreciate and are committed to our great partnership. We will continue to be transparent with you and will update you as soon as we have more information. Thank you for your ongoing understanding and patience.
Sincerely,
Trevor Denney
Director, Office of Emergency Management
Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management