Funds Bottleneck Needs Breaking Says Homeland Security Task Force

Recommendations designed to break the bottleneck in getting federal homeland security funds into the hands of first responders developed by the special Task Force on State and Local Homeland Security Funding have been praised by the The National League of Cities (NLC).

The Task Force, made up of governors, city and county officials, and tribal leaders, was created to address concerns raised by local governments regarding the distribution of funding for homeland security.

Secretary Tom Ridge challenged the group to examine the funding process related to first responders, identify “best practices,” and develop findings and recommendations to expedite the flow of homeland security dollars to the front lines which are responsible for preventing and responding to acts of terrorism.

Key findings by the task force included:

–The reimbursement requirement doesn’t work well for many governments–particularly cash-strapped municipalities;

–Ordinary procurement and cash management processes cannot be relied upon in extraordinary times;

–Many state and local governments lack the purchasing power to obtain needed goods and services in a timely fashion;

–The lack of national standards guiding distribution and use of funds contributes to delays in disbursement.

The task force report offered a series of recommendations and action steps to respond to the findings that suggest changes at all levels of government including asking Congress to allow funds to be provided to state and local governments in advance of expenditure for up to 120 days, establishing deadlines for obligating grant funds from one level of local government to another, and creating national standards for management of grant funds.

The task force’s report was released mid-summer after being reviewed and endorsed by the Department of Homeland Security Advisory Council and the State and Local Officials Senior Advisory Committee.

NLC First Vice President Anthony A. Williams, mayor of Washington, D.C., represents NLC on the Homeland Security Advisory Council and Past President Karen Anderson, mayor of Minnetonka, Minn., represents NLC on the Senior Advisory Council. Portland, Maine, Mayor Nathan Smith represented NLC on the special Task Force. Mayor Don Plusquellic of Akron, Ohio, incoming President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors served as vice chair of the group.