The Homeland Security Department’s process for distributing grants to first responders can be improved, but is not the main barrier to state and local governments receiving and spending the money, according to a new report. State and local governments have spent less than two-thirds of $2.4 billion in grants that were made available to support homeland security first responders from 2002 to 2003, the DHS inspector general reported in a March audit. The audit concluded that numerous reasons contributed to the slow spending of funds; some are unavoidable, but others could be eliminated. “In some instances, states and local jurisdictions had delayed spending funds pending the completion of statewide risk assessments and homeland security strategies and the development of detailed spending plans, believing that spending the funds wisely was more important than spending them immediately,” the report said. Full Story
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