WASHINGTON, DC – The September 11th Public Discourse Project, formerly the September 11th Commission, today issued a progress report on reforms urged by the commission last year. The report found that only “minimal progress” has been made in reforming a fundamentally flawed homeland security grant funding formula. Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-NY) praised the project for their work on this issue and urged her colleagues to adopt a reform amendment she and Congressman John Sweeney (R-NY) included in the House Patriot Act Reauthorization legislation.
“I’ve fought for four years to fix this funding formula. It makes no sense to allocate these scarce resources on the basis of anything other than risk. The September 11th Public Discourse Project’s report card and the response to Hurricane Katrina are reminders that the federal government is not rising up to meet the post-September 11th challenges we face,” said Lowey. “Congress must act to turn this ‘minimal progress’ rating on homeland security funding distribution into ‘mission accomplished.’”
The PATRIOT Act of 2001 established a funding formula which guarantees that each state will receive .75% of homeland security grant funds and distributes the remainder on the basis of population. No consideration is given to threat, vulnerability or consequence.
In July, Lowey and Sweeney successfully pushed the House of Representatives to adopt their funding formula reform as part of the Patriot Act Reauthorization. This measure would establish a first responder grants board to allocate funding based on a host of threats across 16 different critical infrastructure sectors. Only after those grants are distributed would each state’s total allocation be evaluated to ensure that it receives a minimum amount of funding. The minimums would be lowered to .25% of available grant funding for non-border states and .45% for border states, ensuring that more funds are available for high-risk areas. The new formula would apply to the State Homeland Security Grant Program, the Urban Area Security Initiative, and the Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention Program.
The House and Senate will soon reconcile differences between the two chambers’ versions of the Patriot Act Reauthorization legislation. Lowey today again urged conferees to keep the House funding formula language intact so that limited homeland security resources are delivered where they are needed most.
“Hurricane Katrina has shown us that we are not nearly prepared for a catastrophic disaster. We must stop treating homeland security grants like pork and start putting funds toward decreasing proven vulnerabilities and preparing for likely threats,” said Lowey. “It’s past time for Congress to make homeland security funding reform a reality.”
Lowey further urged her colleagues to enact legislation she has introduced, the Connecting the Operations of National Networks of Emergency Communications Technologies for First Responders Act, or CONNECT First Responders Act, to provide direct funding for local governments to upgrade interoperable communications capabilities. The Public Discourse Project found that interoperability was another area where the federal government has failed to make adequate progress.
