States fail to use post-9/11 grants
Since 9/11, the federal government has allocated $16.04 billion in grants to states; trouble is, to date almost $5 billion of it has not been spent
Small-government types say the government spends too much money; big-government types say the government does not spend enough. We wonder what they will say about this fact: Nearly a third of the antiterrorism money the government has allocated to states and cities since 9/11 has not been spent by police and emergency workers who would respond to attacks and natural disasters. Specifically: Almost $5 billion of $16.04 billion in grants approved by Congress for states from fiscal 2002 to 2007 remain in federal coffers, according to DHS budget figures. The programs were all created after 9/11 to tighten security and pay for equipment and training.
In its fiscal 2008 budget request to Congress, the Bush administration asked for $2.2 billion for the grant programs, but the House nearly doubled that and the Senate may do the same when it takes up the bill next month.
USA Today’s Mimi Hall writes that states explain there are many reasons for the backlog. In some cases, equipment is backordered; in others, money is obligated for multiyear projects, such as upgrading communications systems. Washington, D.C. and New York complained bitterly about cuts to their grants last year, but large grant sums allocated to the two cities have gone unused: In Washington, 37.7 percent is unspent; in New York, 47.9 percent. Other states show similar pattern: In Tennessee, $73 million of the $276 million the state has received since fiscal 2002 has not been spent; Pennsylvania has not spent a third of its money.
