Snowe seeks greater flexibility in homeland security funding

WASHINGTON – When Maine Adjutant Gen. Joseph Tinkham and Maine Emergency Management Agency Director Art Cleaves talked to Sen. Olympia J. Snowe earlier this year about the potential threats from terrorism, a Snowe aide said they had one key complaint: Flexibility in the uses of federal funding for homeland security was virtually nonexistent.

Snowe went home to Maine in February to tour Emergency Management Agency facilities and found that “funding restrictions were sapping response,” according to her spokesman, Dave Lackey. There was money for new equipment – perhaps the most sophisticated available – but the personnel who would have to use it have never been trained.

In fact, said Lackey, funds that come from the Federal Emergency Management Agency or the new Office of Domestic Preparedness restricted their use for training purposes, emphasizing hardware and planning.

As a result, Snowe introduced legislation Friday that would allow up to 20 percent of grant money to be targeted to training programs.

“In the world of emergency management, planning comes first, followed by training and exercise,” Snowe said. She said that if emergency funds are distributed, states and first responders should have the ability to make local decisions.

“Even when grants are provided for training and exercise, restrictions make it extremely difficult for full-time departments to free up time for employees to participate in training or exercises,” Snowe said. “My legislation will change that dynamic by providing the flexibility local communities have told me is crucial.”

The bill, S. 909, has been referred to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

The new U.S. Department of Homeland Security was set up this year, under an act of Congress, to coordinate and centralize disparate parts of the government responsible for things ranging from border stations and immigration to acquiring harbor patrol boats and studying the best responses to chemical terrorism.

Through the Office for Domestic Preparedness, which last year was part of the U.S. Department of Justice, Congress has already authorized some funding for training programs, primarily through the State Homeland Security Grant Program.

The deadline for applications from Maine – and other states – for the $303,000 available for training in fiscal 2003 is April 22. Overall, Maine first responders have a pool of $5.75 million in federal assistance, with the bulk – $4.03 million set aside for equipment acquisition. Exercises in Maine were funded at a $1.01 million level with $404,000 available for planning purposes.

The Domestic Response Office said the funds from the training allocation could be used “to enhance the capabilities of state and local first responders through the development of a state homeland security training program.” Allowable training-related costs include establishment of training programs within existing training academies, universities or junior colleges.

The funds can be used only to train emergency responders, emergency managers operating as firefighters, law enforcement officers, emergency management personnel, emergency medical services providers, hazardous materials handlers, public works employees, public health and health care personnel, public safety communications workers, governmental administrative personnel and private security guards.

“While the department is taking steps to get training money out there, the rest of the money available to Maine has restrictions on it,” Lackey said Sunday evening. “If our first responders buy chemical suits but can’t find the funds to train to learn to use them, what good are they? We need to change that.”

The Snowe bill would let state and local first responder agencies use up to 20 percent of all funds for training. About 7 percent of this grant program – which has $600 million nationally – now is set aside for training.