Fiscal Year 2011 Department of Homeland
Security Assistance to States and Localities
Shawn Reese
Analyst in Emergency Management and Homeland Security Policy
March 11, 2010
Congressional Research Service
7-5700
www.crs.gov
R41105
CRS Report for Congress
P
repared for Members and Committees of Congress
Fiscal Year 2011 Department of Homeland Security Assistance to States and Localities
Summary
The President’s budget request proposed total appropriations of $4.0 billion in FY2011 for
homeland security assistance to states and localities, which is $142 million less than Congress
appropriated in FY2010. These assistance programs are used by state and local governments,
primarily first responder entities, to meet homeland security needs and enhance capabilities to
prepare for, respond to, and recover from both man-made and natural disasters.
The Administration’s budget request not only proposes to reduce total appropriations for these
programs, but also to eliminate some programs, such as the Metropolitan Medical Response
System, the Emergency Operations Centers Program, and the Interoperable Communications
Program. This report briefly discusses issues of debate associated with the budget request.
This report will be updated as congressional appropriations actions warrant.
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Fiscal Year 2011 Department of Homeland Security Assistance to States and Localities
Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1
Budget Request ........................................................................................................................... 1
Issues.......................................................................................................................................... 2
Proposed Elimination of Programs ........................................................................................ 2
Proposed Reduction of Firefighter Assistance Programs ........................................................ 3
Tables
Table 1. FY2010 Enacted and FY2011 Budget Request for State and Local Programs ................. 1
Contacts
Author Contact Information ........................................................................................................ 4
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Fiscal Year 2011 Department of Homeland Security Assistance to States and Localities
Introduction
This report provides overview information on the proposed FY2011 budget request for the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) programs that provide assistance to state and local
governments. These programs are primarily used by first responders, including firefighters,
emergency medical personnel, emergency managers, and law enforcement officers. Specifically,
these programs provide assistance for training, exercises, the purchase of equipment, and other
support for terrorism and disaster preparedness and response activities.
This report provides a table with requested funding amounts, and briefly discusses potential
policy issues that Congress may want to address during the FY2011 budget and appropriations
process. These issues include the proposed elimination of specific grant programs and a proposed
reduction in funding for the Assistance to Firefighters Program.
Budget Request
In the FY2011 budget request, the Administration denotes three categories of grants: State and
Regional Preparedness Programs; Metropolitan Statistical Area Preparedness Programs; and
Training, Measurement, and Exercise Programs. While the amounts requested generally resemble
the appropriations for the current fiscal year, and funding for six programs would increase, the
request includes no funding for seven programs. Table 1 provides information on the FY2010
enacted amounts and the FY2011 budget request for DHS’s State and Local Programs.
Table 1. FY2010 Enacted and FY2011 Budget Request for State and Local Programs
(all amounts in millions of dollars)
Programs
FY2010 Enacted
FY2011 Budget Request
State and Regional Preparedness Programs
State Homeland Security Grant
950 1,050
Program
Emergency Management
340 345
Performance Grant Program
Regional Catastrophic
35 35
Preparedness Program
Assistance to Firefighters
810
610
Metropolitan Statistical Area Preparedness Programs
Urban Area Security Initiative
887
1,110
Port Security Grant Program
300
300
Public Transportation Security
300 300
Grant Program
Buffer Zone Protection Program
50
50
Training, Measurement, and Exercise Programs
Continuing Training Grants
29
22
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Fiscal Year 2011 Department of Homeland Security Assistance to States and Localities
Programs
FY2010 Enacted
FY2011 Budget Request
National Domestic Preparedness
102 52
Consortium
Center for Domestic
63 63
Preparedness and the Noble
Training Center
National Exercise Program
40
42
Technical Assistance Programs
13
15
Evaluations and Assessments
16
18
Programs Proposed for Elimination by the Administration
Driver’s License Security Program
50
0
Metropolitan Medical Response
41 0
System
Citizen Corps Programs
13
0
Interoperable Emergency
50 0
Communications Program
Emergency Operations Centers
60
0
Cybercrime Counterterrrorism
2 0
Training
Rural Domestic Preparedness
3 0
Consortium
Total 4,154
4,012
Source: CRS analysis of the FY2011 DHS Congressional Budget Justifications, and the FY2011 DHS Budget in Brief.
Issues
As Congress begins its appropriation process, Members may opt to consider issues associated
with the Administration’s proposed budget request for state and local homeland security
assistance programs. Two of these issues include the elimination of seven programs and the
reduction of funding for the Assistance to Firefighters Program. Both of these issues are linked in
the Administration’s budget request because eliminating assistance programs would reduce total
appropriations unless funding for the remaining programs is increased. The Administration,
however, does not request increases in all of the remaining programs. For some programs, the
Administration requests a reduction in funding.
Proposed Elimination of Programs
For FY2011, the Administration proposed a total appropriation of $4.0 billion for state and local
homeland security programs, which is $142 million less than Congress appropriated in FY2010.
This proposed reduction in the total appropriation is a combination of reducing funding to some
programs, such as the Assistance to Firefighters Program, and eliminating selected programs.
These proposed reductions and elimination of certain programs are partially offset by proposed
increases in funding for some programs, such as the State Homeland Security Grant Program and
the Urban Area Security Initiative.
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Fiscal Year 2011 Department of Homeland Security Assistance to States and Localities
The Administration stated that the proposed reduction in the number of assistance programs
would consolidate prior individual programs and expand the eligible activities of the remaining
programs, which might result in increased competition among homeland security projects and
stakeholders at the state and local levels. An example of this is the proposed elimination of the
Interoperable Communications Program because both the State Homeland Security Grant
Program and the Urban Area Security Initiative allow grantees to purchase communication
equipment.1 The Administration further states that the consolidation would increase state and
locality discretion and encourage grantees to prioritize investments that meet specific homeland
security needs that vary from grantee to grantee.2
The elimination of selected programs could potentially lead to two scenarios in which states and
localities
• would attempt to continue funding all of their homeland security projects,
including those that are eliminated but eligible under other programs, which
might result in reduced funding for all homeland security projects; and
• would eliminate funding for selected homeland security projects.
Congress could address this issue by increasing total appropriations for the remaining programs,
thus reducing the possibility of some homeland security projects not being funded or being only
partially funded. This option would not, however, reduce the competition at the state and local
levels among stakeholders and homeland security projects.
Conversely, Congress could take a different approach from the Administration’s request and
continue funding the programs that have been identified for elimination. This option might ensure
that numerous homeland security projects receive baseline funding; however, this approach might
result in less funding for larger programs such as the State Homeland Security Grant Program and
the Urban Area Security Initiative.
Finally, Congress could agree with the Administration and eliminate funding for some assistance
programs and reduce total appropriations. This option could cause grantees to prioritize their
homeland security projects and allocate funding according to their needs. This option, however,
might result in some grantees being unable to fund a number of projects they deem as needed.
Proposed Reduction of Firefighter Assistance Programs3
For FY2011, the Administration proposed $610 million for firefighter assistance programs, which
is $200 million less than the FY2010 appropriation. Specifically, the Administration’s FY2011
budget proposed $305 million for the Assistance to Firefighters Assistance Program (AFG)—a
decrease of $95 million from the FY2010 level—and $305 million for the Staffing for Adequate
Fire & Emergency Response Grant Program (SAFER)—a decrease of $105 million. The FY2011
request for AFG would be, if approved, the lowest amount appropriated since FY2001, the initial
1 U.S. Office of Management and Budget, Appendix: Budget of the U.S. Government, Fiscal Year 2011, Washington,
DC, February 1, 2010, p. 557.
2 Ibid.
3 This section was prepared by Len Kruger, Specialist in Science and Technology Policy, Resources, Science, and
Industry Division.
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Fiscal Year 2011 Department of Homeland Security Assistance to States and Localities
year of the program. The Administration’s budget request does not provide information on why it
has proposed to reduce AFG funding.
Unlike many DHS grant programs, AFG employs a competitive grant process that awards funding
directly to applying fire departments and Emergency Medical Service organizations. In recent
years, the amount of total AFG funding requested in applications has continued to rise, from $2.3
billion in FY2006 to $3.2 billion in FY2009.4 Thus, the reduction of available funding in the
assistance to firefighter programs could potentially heighten competition among fire departments
for federal grant money. Ultimately, more fire departments would not receive federal grants for
equipment, training, hiring, recruitment/retention, and other purposes, and would thus either rely
more on local government budgets or go without.
As it did in FY2010, Congress could choose to increase FY2011 funding for firefighter assistance
over the level recommended by the Administration. Such a scenario would prevent a significant
drop in the number of fire departments and EMS organizations receiving funding in FY2011. On
the other hand, Congress could choose to agree with the Administration’s request, thereby
transferring more of the funding burden to the local level.
Author Contact Information
Shawn Reese
Analyst in Emergency Management and Homeland
Security Policy
sreese@crs.loc.gov, 7-0635
4 U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency, “AFG Application Statistics,”
http://www.firegrantsupport.com/content/html/afg/AppStatistics.aspx.
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