|
|
Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and
Risk Management
Crisis and Emergency Management
|
NOTICE: The ICDRM's monthly emergency managment forum, held at the GWU |
| February
2003
Volume 4 - Number 1 |
|
Links:
Current events
|
Public Safety Officials Await $3.5 Billion in Funding
By Randall S. Poulin
The Bush Administration caught the attention of public safety officials nationwide in February 2002 when it proposed $3.5 billion in funding for the first responder community. Almost an entire year later none of the proposed funds have been released to state and local governments causing many officials at the lower levels of government to question Washington’s homeland security priorities. The President’s Budget In his January 2002 State of the Union Address, President Bush stressed the need “to do everything possible to protect our citizens and strengthen our nation against the ongoing threat of another attack.” The President’s 2003 budget included $3.5 billion to be coordinated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for equipment, training, and exercises to better prepare first responders to defend against acts of terrorism citing that “our war on terrorism is a national, not a federal, effort.” This Year’s Congress, Last Year’s Business A shift in the Senate’s balance of power after the November mid-term elections and an effort to curb federal spending amidst impending war in Iraq and a stagnant economy caused all but two of this year’s appropriations bills, those funding the Department of Defense, to be stuck in Congress. The Senate finally approved a $390 billion spending bill combining the remaining eleven appropriations bills on January 23, 2003 after financing the first four months of the fiscal year with a series of continuing resolutions. However, they reduced the $3.5 billion to $3.3 billion after a 2.9 percent across-the-board cut due to military spending (according to a National Journal's Technology Daily source on the Senate Appropriations Committee). The Senate’s bill must still be reconciled with the House and sent forward for the President’s signature, a process that could continue for weeks. Requests from the Front Lines An open letter to Congress from the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) states that “local governments across this nation have spent billions of dollars to increase security and strengthen preparedness efforts, as well as respond to numerous federal alerts and changes in threat levels.” The USCM requests that the majority of federal funding be apportioned directly to cities and counties to expedite aid to those who will be the first to respond to acts of terrorism. National League of Cities President John DeStefano, Jr. initiated a similar campaign by calling on city officials to send police, fire, and emergency service badges to President Bush “to remind him that homeland security is about hometown security.” The National Governor’s Association followed suit on January 17, 2003 by sending an open letter to the Senate Majority and Minority Leaders in which they urged “support for the President's original request of providing $3.5 billion coordinated through the states. Just as Congress and the President have responded by acting on a far-reaching reorganization and consolidation of federal agencies, so too the President recognized the critical role of states [as] the first line of defense and the first line of coordination of response to any attack.” References 2002 State of the Union Address – http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/01/20020129-11.html President’s Proposed 2003 Federal Budget – http://w3.access.gpo.gov/usbudget/fy2003/budget.html Status of FY03 Appropriations Bills – http://thomas.loc.gov/home/approp/app03.html Open Letter to Senators Frist and Daschle from the National Governor’s Association – http://www.nga.org/nga/legislativeUpdate/1,1169,C_LETTER^D_4874,00.html Open Letter to Congress from the U.S. Conference of Mayors – http://www.usmayors.org/uscm/news/press_releases/documents/firstresponder_010703.pdf National League of Cities Badge Campaign – http://www.nlc.org/nlc_org/site/newsroom/terrorism_response/funding_campaign.cfm |