December 22, 2008
Governor Paterson's Executive Budget contains two items which have a particular homeland security impact.
Please feel free to continue sharing with me any concerns or observations you have on these provisions or issues I may have missed but you would like the Business Council to track. Business Council staff analysis on major budget provisions across all topic areas will be updated on our Web site.
Homeland Security State Budget Highlights
- The Public Protection & General Government Article VII bill, Part D, details the proposal to create a not-for-profit corporation and transfer the functions of the state Office of Cyber Security & Critical Infrastructure Coordination to that corporation.
- The PPGG bill, Part R, increases the annual fee assessed to nuclear electricity generating facilities in NYS from $550,000 to $1 million to be divided between the State and designated localities for the purpose of offsetting a greater share of local emergency preparedness costs.
US Dept. of Homeland Security Releases Funding Opportunities
On December 16, DHS opened the application period for $48.6 million under the FFY 2009 Driver's License Security Grant Program, intended to expedite compliance with Real ID requirements.
DHS has also opened the application period for approximately $34 million under the FFY 2009 Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs) Grant Program, intended to improve state and local emergency management and preparedness capabilities through EOCs. Congress directed $21 million of the total, leaving $12.35 million to be competitively awarded.
GAO Reports Setting the Stage?
As a new Congress and new Administration get underway, the GAO continues to issue reports setting out challenges and opportunities for the Department of Homeland Security and the business of homeland security.
This week the GAO issued its report on the US Visitor & Immigrant Status Indicator Technology Program. The GAO found that this program expenditure plan, which is designed to collect, maintain and share information including biometric identifiers on certain foreign nationals did not fully satisfy any of the 11 conditions required of DHS by Congress. It also identified what it observed to be other limitations on ability to execute the plan in a timely and cost-effective manner.
Consistent with previous GAO findings, GAO-09-39 continued to find that property/casualty insurers still generally seek to exclude nuclear, biological, chemical or radiological terrorism coverage from their commercial policies.
Other recent GAO reports of interest include a Letter Report on Northern Border Security, a report on the oversight of funds invested in major DHS programs, a Letter Report suggesting DHS could benefit from a strategic approach to ensure its acquisition workforce can meet mission needs, and a report recommending that the Department of Defense develop department wide on “Defense Critical Infrastructure Program” training standards and an implementation timeframe.