Leaders in Fairfax County are seeking more information about the impact of proposed homeland security grant cuts that could leave the D.C. region without millions of dollars
Leaders in Fairfax County, Virginia, are seeking more information about the impact of proposed homeland security grant cuts that could leave the D.C. region without the tens of millions of dollars it considers vital to keep the area safe.
Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chair Jeff McKay said President Donald Trump’s administration notified local leaders over the summer that there would a 40% cut to the grants. But recently, they learned the cuts amount to 90% of total homeland security grant funding.
The Washington Post first reported news of the proposed cuts, which could result in a loss of more than $40 million.
WTOP has contacted the Department of Homeland Security for comment.
“This is really critical, obviously, in a region like the DMV, where very sensitive incidents can occur very quickly,” McKay said.
The grant funding, McKay said, helped reimburse the D.C.-area jurisdictions that sent law enforcement and first responders to help after the deadly midair collision near Reagan National Airport earlier this year. It helps the localities either pay overtime for responders that help with major incidents or backfill positions while personnel are responding to a major emergency.
“If nothing changes here, and this 90% cut goes into place, it’ll have an effect of having every local government look at whether or not they say yes or no to requests for assistance,” McKay said. “What that does is put all of us at risk. It puts our first responders at risk. It puts victims in some of these instances at risk.”
D.C. and 11 other states filed a lawsuit in response to the proposed cuts, and a federal judge in Rhode Island ruled that the cuts couldn’t be made while the lawsuit proceeds. McKay called it alarming that Virginia was not one of the states that joined the lawsuit.
In addition to reimbursement for first responders, McKay said the grants help pay for terrorist response training, camera networks, integrated radio systems, hazardous material detection and emergency alert systems.
“Over time, what we’ll find out is if those funds go away, you’re going to have local governments not investing in some of those systems, which puts everybody at risk,” McKay said. “And you’re going to have local governments, when called upon in a critical incident, potentially say, ‘We’re going to have to pass on this one.’”
Clint Osborn, director of D.C.’s Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency, said the cuts are part of Urban Area Security Initiative funding, which helps prepare for, prevent and respond to terrorism and other threats across the region.
“These funds are vital to the overall emergency preparedness and response capabilities where our threat level remains high, and where events designated as National Special Security Events occur frequently,” Osborn said in a statement. “The District will be requesting to the Trump Administration a full restoration of these potential devastating cuts.”
In Fairfax, McKay and the board asked County Executive Bryan Hill to report how much in reimbursements could potentially be lost and what programs, training and equipment may no longer be available if they can’t be paid for with local funding.
Mutual aid agreements, which allow jurisdictions such as Fairfax to send first responders to an incident that may be just outside of their borders, won’t be affected by the proposed cuts, McKay said.
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Scott Gelman
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