What UASI Cities would be impacted by the proposed reduction to 25 cities on the list?



One recent news paper headline read: 


Victory! New York to Receive Increase in Anti-Terrorism Funding

The story indicates that Representatives Nita Lowey and Steve Israel announced that an amendment has passed the House that would enable New York City to receive more anti-terrorism funding. Under the new amendment, the story reports, grant recipients of the Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI) would be limited to 25 of the highest-risk cities in the nation.
"I am pleased this amendment passed to ensure UASI grants benefit highest-risk cities and will work to ensure the Senate passes this provision and President Obama signs it into law," said Lowey.

Based on the 2010 allocations, which may change due to new risk calculation formulas, the following top UASI cities would appear to be safe.  However, the impact of new risk formula is not yet understood. The two lists below are in order based on the 2010 allocations as announced almost a year ago...
  1. New York City 
  2. Los Angeles/Long Beach
  3. National Capital Region
  4. Chicago
  5. Bay Area 
  6. Houston 
  7. Jersey City/Newark 
  8. Dallas/Forth Worth 
  9. Philadelphia
  10. Boston 
  11. San Diego 
  12. Atlanta 
  13. Detroit 
  14. Anaheim 
  15. Seattle 
  16. Miami 
  17. Baltimore
  18. Phoenix 
  19. St Louis 
  20. Twin Cities
  21. Las Vegas 
  22. Tampa 
  23. Memphis 
  24. Kansas City 
  25. Norfolk 
The cities that would presumably be left of the funding list are the following:
  1. Portland 
  2. Indianapolis 
  3. Denver 
  4. Pittsburgh 
  5. San Antonio 
  6. Fort Lauderdale 
  7. Buffalo 
  8. New Orleans 
  9. El Paso
  10. Jacksonville 
  11. Riverside 
  12. Cleveland 
  13. Orlando 
  14. Cincinnati 
  15. Providence 
  16. Honolulu
  17. Charlotte 
  18. Tucson 
  19. Oklahoma City 
  20. Columbus 
  21. Milwaukee 
  22. Sacramento 
  23. San Juan 
  24. Baton Rouge
  25. Austin 
  26. Salt Lake City 
  27. Nashville 
  28. Bridgeport 
  29. Hartford 
  30. Richmond 
  31. Oxnard 
  32. Rochester 
  33. Toledo 
  34. Louisville 
  35. Tulsa 
  36. Bakersfield 
  37. Omaha 
  38. Albany
  39. Syracuse
The final outcome of UASI will depend on the Senate and the final resolution of the Continuing Resolution and 2011 budget in conference committee. However the proposed changes will loom over the 2010 UASI award process and likely be a topic of discussion at the upcoming UASI & Homeland Security Conference.

One can anticipate that the various representatives of the 39 cities will be active participants in the ensuing national conversation on how best to protect high-risk cities.

Note: I tried to keep opinions out of this but any expressed or inferred are my own and no one else's.
  

Comments

  1. Steve DavisFebruary 20, 2011 at 2:06 PM

    Note that the funding bill now heads to the Senate, where it has no support from the Democratic majority. (All Democrats and three Republicans voted against the House bill.) President Obama could also veto the bill.

    The current Continuing Resolution runs out on March 4. If Congress and the White House are not able to come to an agreement on a spending bill, the government faces the possibility of being shut down. If grants are not appropriated soon, there may be little time left to implement the funding process before the fiscal year ends in September... meaning there could be no UASI cities in 2010.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Steve DavisFebruary 23, 2011 at 8:22 AM

    I'm hearing that we should not take this too seriously until the Senate acts and then get to conference committee. The House was anxious to get the bill out so that we can have a budget and not shut down government. The budget details are certainly not set in stone yet.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Steve DavisDecember 31, 2011 at 10:08 AM

    Based on the approved 2012 budget, most people in the homeland security business are assuming that only the top 10 cities will remain in the program. Guidance is due out in February. These top 10 may be getting much less funding as the legislation set the minimum for UASIs at $100 million.

    ReplyDelete

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