(The Center Square) — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is demanding that the Trump administration release hundreds of millions of dollars in congressionally approved federal funding to help states and local governments safeguard against domestic terrorism and bolster security.
In a letter to Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem, Hochul said she is “deeply troubled” by the Department of Homeland Security’s delay in releasing federal grants, which has left the state and local governments unable to access funding to bolster security and protect against domestic terrorism threats.
Hochul said that without those resources, the state’s law enforcement is “unable to access state-of-the-art training, the latest advancements in equipment and the ability to seamlessly share and analyze intelligence with each other.”
“Any further delays in the availability of HSGP will degrade the capabilities of our nation to prevent terrorism and make us less safe at a time when the variety and severity of security threats continue to grow,” Hochul wrote in the two-page letter.
New York received about $220 million from that program in the previous fiscal year, with a large chunk going to law enforcement agencies in New York City and its suburbs, according to the Hochul administration.
The funding, provided through several grant programs, has helped New York pay for National Guard members to patrol subways in New York and and for synagogues, mosques, churches and other houses of worship to harden their infrastructure and security protocols.
The program, which was approved by Congress in response to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, distributed more than $1 billion in funding to states in the previous fiscal year, according to Homeland Security. That includes about $81 million for “Operation Stonegarden” which provides funding to states on the Mexico and Canadian borders to address illegal immigration and transnational drug trafficking.
The Trump administration was expected to post applications for the grants in May, but has delayed it by several months. Homeland Security has attributed the delay to a review of the grant programs to determine if they have “fraud or waste” and are consistent with the Trump administration’s policies. It’s not clear when the FEMA grant money will be released.
In June, a coalition of groups representing local and state officials, emergency management agencies and first-responders sent a similar letter to Noem calling on her to release the federal grant money.
“The lack of timely NOFOs creates an inability to enhance response and recovery capabilities across the country and puts critical infrastructure at risk,” the coalition wrote. “This comes during a time when nation-state actors, domestic and international extremists, and the hazards of our natural environment pose a tremendous and increasing threat.”
