Funding Opportunity?

It appeared on the surface that emergency management was all but passed over when the economic stimulus law was passed. There were programs that clearly benefited law enforcement, but little that appeared to benefit emergency management. We were particularly watchful for programs that could fund alerting and notification systems.

We may have found a source. The economic stimulus law included a very discreet, almost hidden, provision that allows governors to spend a portion of their "state stabilization" funds on public safety. The stabilization funds are to be used primarily for education, but the law says governors can spend 18.2% of those stabilization funds on "public safety and other government services".

18.2% may seem like a rather small percentage, but it amounts to over 9.8-billion-dollars. Yes, that's billion with a "b".

Galain Solutions is releasing a report this week that shows that 26 states have decided to use a portion of their stabilization money on public safety. The total amounts to 2.6-billion-dollars! (You can get a copy of the report through Galain's web site.)

Now, does this mean the money will be spent on emergency management, or alerting and notifying? It's hard to tell at this point. Information is still sketchy. But, it would probably be a good idea for emergency management professionals to find out more about plans in their states for the stabilization funds. State legislators and the governors' offices would be a place to start.

We believe this source of funding is still relatively unknown. It may not be too late to influence the spending decisions.

All the best,

Rick