California's Homeland Security Threatened Says League of California Cities; State and Local Officials Speak Out.News Editors/Business Editors SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 17, 2003 The League of California California (kăl'ĭfôr`nyə), most populous state in the United States, located in the Far West; bordered by Oregon (N), Nevada and, across the Colorado River, Arizona (E), Mexico (S), and the Pacific Ocean (W). Cities submitted a joint letter to Chairman Cox and Ranking Member In United States politics, the ranking member or ranking minority member is a member of a congressional committee from the minority party, frequently the member with the highest seniority. Turner of the House Select Committee on Homeland Security Noun 1. Homeland Security - the federal department that administers all matters relating to homeland security Department of Homeland Security executive department - a federal department in the executive branch of the government of the United States today urging their support for Homeland Security Secretary Ridge's proposal to revise the formula used in the homeland security block grant. Governor Davis, Senators Brulte and Burton, Assembly Members Wesson and Cox and the California State Association of Counties (CSAC CSAC California State Association of Counties CSAC California Student Aid Commission CSAC Computer Science Accreditation Commission (ACM) CSAC Cyberspace Snow and Avalanche Center CSAC Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee ), all joined the League of California Cities President and Oakland City Attorney, John Russo, in emphasizing the need to make the Homeland Security funding formula threat-based, in order to allocate To reserve a resource such as memory or disk. See memory allocation. limited resources more efficiently. The letter reaches Representative Cox and Turner as they hear testimony today from state and local officials about how states, localities and the federal government can work together more effectively to make America safer at a hearing held by the House Select Committee on Homeland Security. Although California is a major potential terrorist target, with its internationally known landmarks and critical infrastructure, it is receiving the least in Office of Domestic Preparedness pre·par·ed·ness n. The state of being prepared, especially military readiness for combat. Noun 1. preparedness - the state of having been made ready or prepared for use or action (especially military action); "putting them homeland security block grant funds per capita [Latin, By the heads or polls.] A term used in the Descent and Distribution of the estate of one who dies without a will. It means to share and share alike according to the number of individuals. as compared to all other states. Homeland Security block grant funds have thus far been distributed under a two-part formula. Under the current formula, each state receives a minimum of three-fourths of a percent of homeland security block grant funds and the remainder based on state population. As a result, nearly forty percent in total of Homeland Security funding is distributed without regard to terrorist threats. In its letter to legislators, the League of California Cities advocated changes that would reduce the per-state minimum requirement to ensure that funding is targeted primarily to areas where the threat of terrorism is greatest. In addition, the League also noted that continuing the High Threat Urban Area program for those localities where threats are particularly great remains important even if the homeland security block grants are revised to distribute the funds in a manner that is more consistent with the threat posed to the area. |
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