Senators attach first responder formula change to spending bill

Urban-state senators vowed to fight again Tuesday after they were rolled by their rural colleagues in a dispute to overhaul the funding formula for the nation's first responders.

The Senate agreed, on a 71-26 vote, to an amendment offered by Senate Homeland Security Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, and ranking member Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., to change the current formula structure and reduce the guaranteed minimum amount each state receives in federal funding. They attached the provision to the fiscal 2006 Homeland Security appropriations measure.

The Collins-Lieberman proposal was deemed inadequate by senators from California, New York and New Jersey, who lobbied for an amendment by Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, to reduce the minimum amount further in order to give their states a larger piece of the pie.

"This just shows that small states can roll the big states," said Cornyn about the geographical makeup of Congress. "When you get in between pork and risk, it's a tough fight." The Feinstein-Cornyn amendment failed, 65-32.

Feinstein said after the vote that she hopes to sit on the House-Senate conference committee that will negotiate the provision and others included in the fiscal 2006 Homeland Security appropriations bill. "It's not over," she said, but conceded that Tuesday's vote reflects the political weight of small states over larger ones.

Collins said she was concerned about the conference negotiations because she would not have a seat at the table, but added the more than 70 votes for her amendment "sends a strong signal" to conferees about the Senate's position on the issue.

Collins' counterpart in the House, Homeland Security Chairman Chris Cox, R-Calif., said Tuesday he supported the move to attach the Collins-Lieberman bill to the appropriations measure, because that would allow Congress to pass the legislation this year. A stand-alone bill might not move this year, he said, noting the full legislative agenda and pending Supreme Court nomination debate.

Cox also would not be included in the House-Senate appropriations conference, but said he believes House Appropriations Chairman Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., would stick to his pledge in May to follow "the will of the authorizers" on homeland security policy in the appropriations bill.

However, House and Senate appropriators might avoid the formula fight by stripping the language from the appropriations measure because the House appropriations bill maintains the status quo formula structure.

Currently, each state receives 0.75 percent of the millions allocated for first responders. The Collins-Lieberman amendment reduced the minimum to 0.55 percent, but gave up to 3 percent to 19 more populated states. The Cox measure reduced the minimum to 0.25 percent and 0.45 percent for some border states. Both measures included accountability provisions to prevent waste, fraud and abuse of the funding and standards for essential capabilities.

Cox's version is similar to the Feinstein-Cornyn proposal as well as the Bush administration's position. It is also closer to the 9/11 Commission's recommendation that Congress base the funding "strictly" on risk, need and vulnerability rather than a parochial formula. The Senate on Wednesday is slated to continue debate on the numerous amendments to the Homeland Security appropriations measure, including provisions to bolster cargo, port and rail and transit security as well as contentious border security and immigration provisions.

Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said Tuesday that senators filed 100 amendments, but he hoped they could reduce that amount to vote on the bill by Thursday or Friday.