PUBLICATIONS BY Matt A. Mayer
Research
Books
2009 Research
September 29, 2009
States: Stop Subsidizing FEMA Waste and Manage Your Own Local Disasters
By Matt A. Mayer
(Backgrounder #2323)
All disasters are local. Or so many politicians proclaim. Yet 29 states send their tax money to FEMA only to end up footing the disaster-response bill for the other 21. Unfair? Incredibly so and inefficient-explains Heritage homeland security expert Matt Mayer. Instead of nationalizing disaster management, states should keep their FEMA taxes-and fund and manage their own local disasters. Mayer explains how to amend the Stafford Act to make this happen.
September 09, 2009
Eight Years after 9/11: Analyzing Congress's Homeland Security Agenda
By Jena Baker McNeill, James Jay Carafano, Ph.D., and Matt A. Mayer
(WebMemo #2608)
This Friday makes the eighth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Congress should honor the memory of that tragedy by solidifying its homeland security agenda by enacting several critical pieces of legislation-- and avoiding others.
September 03, 2009
Controlling Illegal Immigration: What Ohio and Every Other State Can Do
By Matt A. Mayer
(Heritage Lecture #1132)
In order to truly tackle their illegal immigration problems, state and local governments must take a more aggressive approach than simply relying on the federal government. States need the authority to enforce their own laws dealing with illegal immigrants. The E-Verify system is inexpensive, efficient, and the best way to determine whether a foreign applicant is legally able to work.
August 25, 2009
Controlling Illegal Immigration: State and Local Governments Must Do More
By Matt A. Mayer
(Special Report #66)
Politicians should focus their efforts on securing the border, deporting apprehended aliens, and increasing the legal avenues for foreign workers to come to the United States. Congress can repeal the laws that prevent state and local action from securing driver's licenses and identification cards, prohibiting access to non-emergency public benefits, ending access to higher-education benefits, and restricting voting to citizens.
July 29, 2009
Homeowners' Defense Act Rewards States for Bad Property Insurance Decisions
By David C. John and Matt A. Mayer
(WebMemo #2568)
The newly reintroduced Homeowners’ Defense Act is a dangerous step toward a federal government subsidy of property insurance coverage for natural disasters.
July 14, 2009
Section 287(g) Revisions: Tearing Down State and Local Immigration Enforcement One Change at a Time
By Jena Baker McNeill and Matt A. Mayer
(WebMemo #2543)
The Obama Administration's plans to revise the Memorandums of Agreement that are negotiated under section 287(g) of the Immigration and Naturalization Act will undercut a critical tool for enforcing America's immigration laws.
June 17, 2009
U.S. Border Security: Realities and Challenges for the Obama Administration
By Matt A. Mayer
(Backgrounder #2285)
President Obama's initial actions on border security are largely consistent with those of President Bush. The challenges for Obama will come when the economy improves and the industries that hire large numbers of illegal immigrants increase the incentives for illegal immigrants to cross the border. It is critical to ensure that the Border Patrol receives the resources it needs for training and recruiting.
June 03, 2009
Effective Counterterrorism: State and Local Capabilities Trump Federal Policy
By Matt A. Mayer
(Center for Data Analysis Report #09-02)
Washington needs to end the dual-headed federal agency fight over which entity should be the primary federal partner of state and local law enforcement. Rather, the federal government needs to present a federal enterprise solution to state and local governments. Too many of the United States' higher-risk jurisdictions lack the requisite level of counterterrorism capabilities to engage in effective prevention activities. This deficiency must end.
April 08, 2009
Principles for Reform of Catastrophic Natural Disaster Insurance
By Matt A. Mayer, David C. John, and James Jay Carafano, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #2256)
The private sector, state governments, and the federal government could take many actions short of creating a catastrophic hurricane fund (CAT) fund that would provide greater stability to the insurance market at a lower cost to most taxpayers. Those who assume the risk of living in higher risk areas should fully pay for that risk through actuarially sound insurance rates.
March 09, 2009
An Analysis of Federal, State, and Local Homeland Security Budgets
By Matt A. Mayer
(Center for Data Analysis Report #09-01)
Despite a rich history in which states and localities have taken responsibility for their own affairs, we are federalizing more and more of the homeland security mission. Washington’s one-size-fits-all solutions rarely succeed. The country’s homeland security needs are too diverse, federal resources are physically too far from any one location to secure rapid response, and federal decision making is notoriously inept.
February 13, 2009
Next Steps for Immigration Reform and Workplace Enforcement
By Diem Nguyen, Matt A. Mayer, and James Jay Carafano, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #2241)
Immigration reform will require a sustained, incremental effort to secure the border, improvements in the legal worker programs, and support for economic development in Latin America. Internal enforcement is the only mechanism that can discourage illegal immigration and persuade future migrants and employers to use the available legal avenues. This will not be feasible without methodical enforcement that brings legitimacy back to U.S. immigration law.
February 13, 2009
Executive Summary: Next Steps for Immigration Reform and Workplace Enforcement
By Diem Nguyen, Matt A. Mayer, and James Jay Carafano, Ph.D.
(Executive Summary #2241)
Immigration reform will require a sustained, incremental effort to secure the border, improvements in the legal worker programs, and support for economic development in Latin America. Internal enforcement is the only mechanism that can discourage illegal immigration and persuade future migrants and employers to use the available legal avenues. This will not be feasible without methodical enforcement that brings legitimacy back to U.S. immigration law.
2008 Research
October 08, 2008
Don't Let E-Verify Perish in the Next Congress
By Jena Baker McNeill and Matt A. Mayer
(WebMemo #2097)
On September 27, Congress voted to fund E-Verify through March 2009. This is certainly a positive step for the program, but it has put the ball in the court of the next Congress to reauthorize and fund E-Verify into the future. It is also an opportunity to expand and improve on the program in conjunction with the new Administration.
August 06, 2008
Congress Should Reassess the Allocation of Homeland Security Grants
By Matt A. Mayer
(WebMemo #2011)
On Friday, July 25, 2008, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the allocations for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI) grant program. The program aims to distribute funds to the highest risk urban areas in America, and has always been allocated based on risk or the combination of risk and the quality of investment justifications. However, in light of the announcement, it appears the allocation of UASI grants is now based more on political considerations than real measures of risk.
July 18, 2008
Testimony Before the Texas Senate Committee on Transportation and Homeland Security and Committee on International Relations and Trade
By Matt A. Mayer
(Testimony #9999)
Testimony Before the Texas Senate Committee on Transportation and Homeland Security and Committee on International Relations and Trade
June 26, 2008
Hurricane Insurance: Forcing All to Subsidize the Few
By Matt A. Mayer
(WebMemo #1972)
Congress's involvement in insurance in the hurricane-prone South distorts the markets and forces us all to subsidize the risk of those who choose to live there.
June 04, 2008
The Local Role in Disaster Response: Lessons from Katrina and the California Wildfires
By Matt A. Mayer, Richard Weitz, Ph.D., and Diem Nguyen
(Backgrounder #2141)
The federalization of disaster responses continues to accelerate. further stretching FEMA's already strained resources and encouraging state and local governments to divert their disaster-response resources to more immediate needs like transportation, education, or health care. It is time to get back to our federalist tradition and empower state and local governments to take the lead in managing disasters.
2007 Research
October 24, 2007
National Disaster Planning Slowed by Inadequate Interagency Process
By Matt A. Mayer and James Jay Carafano, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #2079)
Six years after 9/11, the federal government still lacks a comprehensive regime for planning and preparing for large-scale disasters. Fixing the problem will require renewed vigor from the Administration in setting clear policy guidelines, particularly in implementing a National Exercise Program, emphasizing the priority of interagency disaster preparedness for the National Planning Scenarios, and improving professional development.
August 03, 2007
After the 9/11 Act: Homeland Security Grants Still Moving in the Wrong Direction
By Matt A. Mayer and James Jay Carafano, Ph.D
(Backgrounder #2059)
The Department of Homeland Security is still struggling to keep homeland security grants from becoming just another federal entitlement, and Congress has passed a bill that will make the DHS’s job more difficult. Congress needs to eliminate minimum grant allocations, boost matching requirements, consolidate grant categories, and require the DHS to conduct a full assessment of national capabilities.
May 10, 2007
Spending Smarter: Prioritizing Homeland Security Grants by Using National Standards and Risk Criteria
By James Jay Carafano, Ph.D. and Matt A. Mayer
(Backgrounder #2033)
It is past time to build a national disaster preparedness and response system grounded on the Department of Homeland Security's Target Capabilities List and to allocate funds based strictly on whether funding requests would build the right capabilities in the right places at the right level. This would minimize or eliminate underinvestment in some areas and overinvestment in others.
May 08, 2007
FEMA and Federalism: Washington Is Moving in the Wrong Direction
By James Jay Carafano, Ph.D., and Matt A. Mayer
(Backgrounder #2032)
The United States needs a disaster response system that is built on the principle of federalism. FEMA should focus its efforts on preparing to respond to catastrophic disasters like Hurricane Katrina, and Congress should establish a higher threshold for triggering federal disaster declarations and encourage states and local communities to implement responsible public safety and emergency response programs.
February 28, 2007
Better, Faster, Cheaper Border Security Requires Better Immigration Services
By James Jay Carafano, Ph.D., and Matt A. Mayer
(Backgrounder #2011)
Congress needs to establish a better model to pay for immigration services, to fund the transformation of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services capabilities, and to enable the USCIS to work more effectively as part of an interagency team. The longer Congress waits, the longer it will take to deliver the border and immigration security that America needs and deserves.
November 20, 2009
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