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Some question the fairness of security funding formula

Emergency Management Alert, April 10, 2003

As the federal government continues to distribute homeland security funds, some critics are taking issue with whether small communities and states receive more funding than they need, Stateline.org reports.

New York Governor George Pataki, R-NY, raised the issue recently in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, noting that New York includes several high-profile targets such as the Statue of Liberty and Wall Street.

So far this year, the Homeland Security Department has released $566 million to state and local governments for the purchase of equipment for first responders and for training programs, basing the distributions on population. The most populous states, California and New York, received $45 million and $26.5 million, respectively, while Wyoming, a much smaller state, received $4.8 million.

But on a per capita basis, Wyoming's funding total dwarfs that of California. Each resident of Wyoming receives 7.5 times more security funding than each resident of California, and seven times more than New York residents. The reason for this disparity is a funding formula that guarantees each state at least .75% of funds available, which totals 40% of the total; the remaining 60% is distributed based on population.

Wyoming officials say the state needs its allotment of funding, but Ridge appears to agree with Pataki and other critics of the funding formula. Ridge said on March 27 before the Senate Appropriations Committee that Congress should abolish the current formula.

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