Homeland fund reform bill derailed for now

[Nambe]

WASHINGTON, Sept. 5 (UPI)

A bill changing the way that billions of federal dollars are channeled to first responders and local governments around the country has been delayed amid a last-minute row about the way it doles out the cash. ..

"There's been a change of plan," Ken Johnson, spokesman for the bill's sponsor, Rep. Chris Cox, R-Calif., told United Press International Sunday. ..

"The leadership had told us to be ready to go on Wednesday," Johnson said, adding that "concerns brought to us (by New York City) at the last minute" had derailed that timetable for the moment.

The bill seeks to base cash distribution on terrorist threats and vulnerability, instead of the current practice of doling out grants according to a politically convenient population-based formula. It has been mired for months in delicate negotiations.

Changing the way $3 billion in federal largesse is divided was never going to be easy, and in the run-up to an election, when many lawmakers feel pressured to deliver for their districts, it has proved harder still. ..

[LauraK]

1. The reupgs just can't give up money to urban (Dem) areas.

Security is a non-issue compared to money.