WASHINGTON-Just as the Federal Communications Commission is grappling with how to solve public-safety interference in the 800 MHz band, the Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General Thursday said federal grant money to first responders is not being used.
“As of February 2004, the majority of the $2.4 billion in fiscal-year 2002 and FY 2003 first-responder grant funds awarded to the 56 states and territories remained unspent and in the U.S. Treasury. However, draw-down statistics do not tell the whole story when trying to gauge the progress being made by states, local jurisdictions and first responders, because they only measure funds disbursed to the states. Although only a small percentage of the funds had been drawn down, much of the remainder had been committed or obligated by the states to local jurisdictions for specific purposes,” reads the report issued by Clark Kent Ervin.
There are a variety of reasons why states and localities are slow to use the money made available in the wake of Sept. 11, 2001, said the IG, but most of them seem to boil down to bureaucracy at all levels of government.
“Many of the reasons given for delays point to administrative processes that need to be streamlined,” according to the report.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, said the IG report justified the need for a more coordinated first-responder grant process.
“This report indicates that there is a clear need for legislation to ensure that homeland-security funding reaches our first responders, who are on the front lines in the war against terrorism. We need to untangle the web of homeland-security grants to make sure our first responders are receiving assistance they need to protect our communities,” said Collins.
Collins is the sponsor of the Homeland-Security Grant Enhancement Act, which has passed her committee and is awaiting action by the full Senate.
A similar bill in the House, the Faster and Smarter Funding for First Responders Act of 2003, was reported to the House by its Select Committee on Homeland Security.
The first responder grant bill would prioritize funding for states and regions based on a threat assessment. Grants would be awarded first on the ability to save lives, then on protecting the food and water supply, and finally on protecting economic sectors.
The bill also must be approved by the House Transportation and Infrastructure, Judiciary, and Commerce committees before being considered by the full House.
