Appropriators urge DHS to see if grants are improving security
According to GAO, the department has never developed a way to measure achievements resulting from the aid.
House lawmakers Tuesday called on the Homeland Security Department to develop a plan to track how billions of dollars in grant funding have been spent by state and local governments since 2002.
They said they also want the department to define the minimum standards that emergency responders around the country should be striving to meet.
"The grant funding equation depends on several variables, including our ability to measure and reduce risk, and on how the requirements we place on our state and local partners are defined," said House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman David Price, D-N.C., during a hearing to examine the department's grant programs.
"The federal government must clearly articulate the minimum capabilities and requirements expected of them and their first responders, and the grant funding we provide must be related to helping them meet those capabilities and requirements," Price added.
Although state and local governments have been given about $20 billion in grants since 2002, the department has never developed a way to monitor and measure what has been achieved with the aid or if national homeland security capabilities have been strengthened, according to GAO.
"We still know little about how states have used federal funds to build their capabilities or reduce risks," testified William Jenkins, GAO's director of homeland security and justice issues.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency was given responsibility for Homeland Security grant programs a year ago under legislation approved by Congress.
FEMA Administrator David Paulison told the subcommittee his agency will have a plan by August to measure the effectiveness of grant funding.
"We've put out $23.7 billion worth of grants and so far nobody's done an assessment of what kind of an impact is it having," Paulison said in an interview. "Is it working or not?"
He said the assessment will examine what impact grants have had and whether it has increased security across the country. "I really do think we've had an impact but there's nothing tangible that says that," he said.
Price and House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee ranking member Harold Rogers, R-Ky., said they also want the department to define minimum preparedness standards that state and local officials should have to meet with their grants.
"The bottom line is I don't know that there's a plan out there that allocates these grants according to some logical plan," Rogers said.
Paulison testified that the department does have a plan that defines minimum capabilities.
"If it exists I've not seen it," Rogers shot back at Paulison. "We always get an answer just like you gave."
Rogers said the department must either develop a plan or Congress might have to take over responsibility for deciding where grants should be spent around the country. But he acknowledged that giving Congress that responsibility probably is not a good idea.
Price also criticized the level of grant funding in the department's fiscal 2009 budget request, saying grants and training programs are being cut by $2.2 billion, compared to the amount allocated by Congress for fiscal 2008.
Paulison said the requested grant funding is about equal to what the department sought for fiscal 2008. He said he believes the request is appropriate.