DETROIT, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- State and local governments will have to do a better job of justifying how they spend federal cash under new homeland security grant guidelines.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff this week announced new guidelines for his department's $765 million Urban Area Security Initiative -- federal money to be handed out in 2006 for big cities thought under terrorist threat.
Commentary has centered around the Department of Homeland Security's new emphasis on risk as a factor in handing out the cash.
"We have to invest our federal money strategically, protecting those communities where there are national and regional implications, using a disciplined, analytical method that properly evaluates the risks," Chertoff told reporters Tuesday.
But more significant is likely to be his insistence that none of the cities or groups of cities (35 in 2006, down from 50 this year) identified as high risk, and allocated a slice of the money, would actually get anything until the department had satisfied itself that their spending plans were satisfactory.
"We're going to be asking eligible cities not simply to apply for money because they're at risk, but to create an investment justification for what they propose to spend the money on," Chertoff said.
"Only when we get a justified investment is the money going to flow to the cities that are otherwise eligible."
Dana Wolverton, public information officer for Michigan's Emergency Management Division told the Detroit News that the changes would make state officials more strategic in how they allocated the money.
"In the past, it's been in training and equipment to give them basic terrorist training and basic equipment," Wolverton said. "Now we're looking at who should have more training, who should have more equipment... Homeland Security is saying, 'We have money and we want to give it to you, but you have to justify how you are spending the money.'"
