Ali Cheung

State grant funds can be used to maintain previously purchased homeland security equipment

The House Committee on Homeland Security has approved legislation that would enable state, local and tribal governments to use a portion of their homeland security grant monies to maintain their previously purchased equipment.

The measure was introduced by Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy (D-OH) in October 2009 because the previous month FEMA had announced that grant recipients could not use funds received under Urban Area Security Initiative Grants or State Homeland Security Grants to maintain and sustain their equipment outside the performance period of the original grants.

Senate appropriations panel boosts homeland security spending by 2.4 percent

The Senate Appropriations homeland security subcommittee on July 14 completed its markup of the fiscal year 2011 spending program for homeland security by adding just over $1 billion to last year’s enacted budget – an increase of 2.4 percent.

GSA is re-thinking its HSPD-12 implementation strategy

The General Services Administration (GSA) is gathering information from government agencies as well as current and potential vendors of products and services related to the implementation of Homeland Security President Directive 12 (HSPD-12) — about personal identity verification, or PIV – so the GSA can develop its procurement strategy for 2011 and later.