WASHINGTON, DC – Today, a bipartisan, bicameral coalition were joined by the former Vice Chair of the September 11th Commission to urge the adoption of a risk-based funding formula. The call for action came as conference negotiations were set to begin on legislation that would reform the flawed funding formula. Representatives Nita Lowey (NY18), John Sweeney (NY20), John Conyers (MI14), Representative Vito Fossella (NY13), Representative Sherwood Boehlert (NY24), Representative Michael McCaul (TX10), Representative Pete Sessions (TX32), and Representative Sue Kelly (NY19), Senators Chuck Schumer (NY) and Hillary Clinton (NY), and former Representative Lee Hamilton, Vice Chair of the September 11th Commission, participated in the event.
“It makes absolutely no sense to distribute homeland security funds on the basis of anything other than risk, but for the last four years, risk hasn’t been a consideration at all. We now have a very good chance of finally focusing our homeland security funds where they are most needed, and, working together on a bipartisan basis, we can make this reform law,” said Lowey.
“Now more than ever, we must allocate our limited resources efficiently. Homeland security funds should not be distributed without taking threat and vulnerability into consideration. Doing so would ignore the very nature of the threat we face: terrorists want to hit us where they can inflict the most damage. This means getting funding to where it is needed most, whether that be a port, a small border town, or a big city,” Rep. Sweeney said.
“The problem is that the guidance for the expenditure of homeland security money is not based on risk and vulnerability; it’s really based on politics and that’s unacceptable. We have a serious national security problem in the country. What we have in this legislation is really common sense – distribute homeland security money on the basis of risk and vulnerability,” said Hamilton, who noted that every member of the September 11th Commission supports a risk-based formula.
Since 2001, the Department of Homeland Security has distributed homeland security grants on the basis of a funding formula that guarantees each state will receive .75% of homeland security grant funds with the remainder distributed on the basis of population. No consideration is currently given to threat, vulnerability or consequence. The consequence of this formula is to distribute more money per capita to low-population, low-risk states like Wyoming than areas facing greater risk, like New York.
Lowey and Congressman John Sweeney (R-NY) successfully amended the House version of the PATRIOT Act Reauthorization to require that threat, vulnerability and consequence are the first criteria when it comes to distributing homeland security grant funds. 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 set at .25% of available grant funding for non-border states and .45% for border states. The new formula would apply to the State Homeland Security Grant Program, the Urban Area Security Initiative, and the Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention Program.
Negotiations are currently underway to reconcile the differences in the House and Senate versions of the Patriot Act. Floor action on the final bill is expected in the coming days.
