Homeland Conferees Back More Aid For High-Risk States.

This article reports that urban lawmakers in the U.S. scored a victory today when House-Senate conferees agreed to give states at greater risk of a terrorist attack or natural disaster more of the funding allocated for first-responder grants as part of the $30.8 billion FY06 Homeland Security spending bill. The Senate may consider the conference bill later today or Friday, while the House is likely to wait until next week. House-Senate conferees declined to reduce the percentage each state receives for first-responder grants, which is now mandated at 0.75 percent. The appropriators last year mandated in the department's spending measure that officials had to appropriate funding under the status quo formula, rather than giving the administration discretion to appropriate money on the basis of risk.