Lack of security funds puts states at risk.

Emergency responders at the state and local level are seriously under funded and lack the equipment, tools and training necessary to deal with a terrorist attack, according to a report released by the Council on Foreign Relations.

The politicized appropriations process, the bureaucratic red tape at all levels of government and the lack of national preparedness standards have also hampered the allocation of homeland security funds, the report found.

The study, released June 29, said funding for the country's emergency responders will need to be tripled over the next five years in order to meet their needs.

Current federal funding for emergency responders is $27 billion for five years beginning in 2004.

"America will fall approximately $98.4 billion short of meeting critical emergency responder needs over the next five years if current funding levels are maintained," according to the report. If states and municipalities must rely solely on federal funds, the federal government will have to increase its current funding level from $5.4 billion per year to an annual federal expenditure of $25.1 billion.

Funds will be needed to expand the emergency-911 system nationally to provide protective gear and remediation equipment to firefighters and to improve training of public health professionals for biological, chemical and radiological events.

Among the recommendations outlined in the 66-page report, Congress should work to establish a system for distributing funds based less on politics and more on threat, make emergency responder grants in fiscal year 2004 and thereafter on a multiyear basis to facilitate long-term planning and training. Congress also should require the Department of Homeland Security to work with state and local agencies and officials, and emergency responder professional associations to establish clearly defined standards and guidelines for emergency preparedness.

The task force also recommended that the U.S. House of Representatives transform the House Select Committee on Homeland Security into a standing committee and give it a formal, leading role in the authorization of all emergency responder expenditures in order to streamline the federal budgetary process. The U.S. Senate should consolidate emergency preparedness and response oversight into the Senate Government Affairs Committee.

States also should develop a prioritized list of requirements in order to ensure that federal funding is allocated properly and quickly to achieve the best possible return on investments.