The Washington region took a huge hit Wednesday when the Department of Homeland Security announced its grant funding.
The $46.4 million urban areas grant to the national capital region is $30 million less than a similar 2005 subsidy and $150 million less than what the region requested.
Area leaders said slashing the money for the area is dangerous and unwise, placing millions of residents in jeopardy by forcing cuts to vital public safety programs.
At risk, District officials said, are plans to build out the area’s communication infrastructure and to augment mass care support, as well as precious dollars for training, equipment, supplies and new hospital beds.
Ed Reiskin, the District’s deputy mayor for public safety and justice, said the region “will have a very challenging time narrowing those priorities down.”
“I think it’s shortsighted for the federal government to cut funds in this way to the District and to the region,” Mayor Anthony Williams said during his weekly press briefing. “We remain a target area, and these funds are useful and they are necessary for prevention and preparation.”
But DHS spokesman Russ Knocke said the capital region fared well compared to the rest of the country. More cities were eligible for grants this year and the department spent less money overall, he said.
“DHS has become more sophisticated at identifying the greater risks,” Knocke said.
Homeland security grant funding nationwide totaled $1.7 billion, $500 million less than last year, Knocke said. New York, the other urban area targeted in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack, saw its funding sheared by $80 million.
In addition to the $757 million urban allocation, another $1 billion will be doled out for state security, law enforcement, medical response and the Citizen Corps.
“We remain the capital of this nation and the free world and on the top of every terrorist’s target list,” said Prince William Board of County Supervisors Chairman Sean Connaughton. “I think this ends up potentially diminishing our readiness.”
Although the Washington area is designated high-risk, as of last summer it had not spent $120 million of the federal aid it received between 2002 and 2004, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Reiskin said Wednesday that virtually all of that money has since been exhausted.
Urban area allocations
» New York: $124.4 million
»Los Angeles/Long Beach: $80.6 million
» Chicago: $52.2 million
» National capital region: $46.4 million
» Jersey City/Newark: $34.3 million
» California Bay Area: $28.3 million
