WASHINGTON, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- Democratic Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, speaking on behalf of the National Governors Association, said Wednesday the states need at least $3 billion in federal aid to help absorb first-year costs of their efforts to defend against terrorism.
With Congress to vote this week on spending measures related to those costs, the association released a study of 17 states' expected additional expenses in the coming year.
Based on that study, Dean said the NGA conservatively estimates the states will have to deal with $4 billion in new budget items related to homeland security, and expects the bill to rise as more states respond. The association's call for $3 billion reflects its understanding of the funding realities facing Congress, Dean said.
"Every state in this country has found that its resources are extraordinarily stretched," Dean told a news conference in Washington and described how a border crossing in his state is manned by personnel pulling 12-hour shifts with no vacations in the foreseeable future.
"People can't work at that level and do a good job," he said.
Three-quarters of the costs described in the study go toward increasing state public health facilities and communications networks to prepare for possible bioterrorism, Dean said. The remaining $1 billion is devoted to guarding power plants, dams and other critical infrastructure.
The NGA's funding request would cover critical infrastructure protection and pick up most of the preparedness costs, Dean said. The states would prefer a block-grant approach to funding, but would accept some restrictions since the need is so great.
The most pressing need nationwide is supplementing badly overworked law enforcement agencies, Dean said. For example, Michigan is spending more than $8,000 a day on National Guard troops to boost border security, he said.
Federalizing the Guard for this duty would relieve many states of that burden, he added.
The ongoing economic downturn has depleted state treasuries and the NGA estimates state budgets will face an overall $25 billion shortfall this fiscal year. Only the federal government is in a position to provide the money necessary to carry out these tasks, Dean said.
Washington has been very responsive in many cases, such as calling up Guard troops for airport security, but more is needed, he said.
"If we don't get some resources, we're simply not going to be able to do the job the public expects," Dean said. "What's going to happen ... is that we're going to cut corners. That's not something anyone wants to do, and that's why we really need federal help."
Dean said the need for state tax increases will vary across the country, but homeland defense costs would not force a tax hike by themselves. Many state constitutions forbid deficit spending, he said, so the states cannot wait for future reimbursement from Congress.
