COLORADO EARNS $20.8M IN HOMELAND SECURITY GRANTS

Gov. Bill Ritter announced today that Colorado will receive $20.8 million in federal homeland security grants for Fiscal Year 2008, up about 4.5 percent from FY 2007's $19.9 million.

 

"This is great news for Colorado," Gov. Ritter said. "These federal funds are vital to our overall homeland security mission. They will allow the state to continue building strong partnerships with local agencies so that we can improve our ability to prevent, deter, respond to and recover from many types of incidents."

 

Gov. Ritter made the announcement as more than 100 local, state and federal officials – including U.S. Reps. Mark Udall and Ed Perlmutter – gathered at the state Capitol for a Homeland Security Summit.

 

"These funds will help us to keep investing in and improving our capabilities, allowing us to better respond to and recover from any natural or manmade disaster," said retired National Guard Maj. Gen. Mason Whitney, director of the Governor's Office of Homeland Security.

 

Here is a breakdown of the FY08 grant allocations, compared with FY07 allocations:

 

Grant Type                                                    FY08                           FY07

 

State Homeland Security Program                 $11.9M                        $6.4M

Urban Areas Security Initiative                      $7.6M                          $7.9M

Metropolitan Medical Response System        $964,000                     $774,000

Citizen Corps Program                                    $249,000                     $245,000

Nonprofit Security Grant Program                 $55,000                       $0

Law Enf. Terrorism Prevention Prgm.*          NA                              $4.6M

Total:                                                              $20.8M                       $19.9M

 

Local agencies, grouped into nine all-hazard geographical regions across the state, will now have an opportunity to submit grant applications to the Governor's Office of Homeland Security seeking access to these federal funds. A review committee will spend the summer soliciting applications, with grant recipients expected to be announced in the fall.

 

Last year, local agencies submitted applications for more than 100 different projects, seeking $53 million in funds.