New federal funds will soon be headed to Texas

When funding flows to state and local agencies, contracting opportunities open up for products, equipment and services. Equipment purchases may normally include computers, surveillance cameras, communications products and vehicles.

New DHS funding allocations have been made and funding is now available to state and local governmental entities.

The following funding sources will be available to state and local governments for FY 2008. Companies may find it beneficial to watch the revenue from these programs that flow into Texas. One way to get information about this particular type of regional funding is to contact the appropriate Council of Government (COG) office.

• Homeland Security Grant Program - $1.69 billion - includes $862.9 million for the State Homeland Security Program to enhance state, territorial and local government response through planning, equipment, training and exercise activities; $781.6 million for the Urban Areas Security Initiative for high-threat, high-density urban areas across the country such as Houston or Dallas, with 25 percent of the funds going to state and local law enforcement; $39.8 million to Metropolitan Medical Response System Program to enhance mass casualty preparedness; and $14.5 million to states and territories for the Citizen Corps Program to bring citizens into community preparedness efforts.
• Infrastructure Protection Program - $852.4 million - includes five programs within the Transit Security Grant Program, whose goal is to protect critical infrastructure from terrorism. The funding can be used for employee training, infrastructure protection, deterrent activities, upgrading and hardening of systems related to public transportation, passenger rail, freight, port security and other infrastructure. Service contracts for production of security plans, vulnerability assessments and employee security awareness training can fall into this category.
• Emergency Management Performance Grants - $291.4 million - this funding will go to local and state governments to enhance emergency management in numerous ways.
• Operation Stonegarden Grants - $60 million - border areas can compete for these funds that will improve border security operations.
• Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program - $60 million - these funds relate to preparedness in the event of a catastrophic incident. Funding is used in various regions to prepare for such events.
• REAL ID Systems Integration and Data Verification Grant Program - $48.5 million - will fund cooperative efforts to ensure the integrity and reliability of driver's licenses. The goal is to improve not only issuance of IDs, but also to ensure a better way to verify someone's identity.

Local government officials will be busy in the coming weeks as they apply for funding from these different federal sources. Cities, counties and transportation authorities usually submit the grants but the state's regional Councils of Government are involved in the process. Vendors should watch for procurement opportunities related to the use of the funds.