HOMELAND SECURITY Census Bureau: Pa. ranked 49th in per-capital spending in 2003

Pennsylvania received more than $186 million in homeland security money.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Pennsylvania ranked near the bottom in per-capita federal homeland security grants, contracts and wages for the 2003 fiscal year among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, according to census data recently released.
The state's emergency management director, however, called the formulation misleading, and a spokesman for Sen. Arlen Specter said Pennsylvania funding had increased dramatically since the funding period cited.
Only Wisconsin and South Carolina had lower per-capita spending for total salaries and wages, procurement contracts, and grants for the Department of Homeland Security in 2003, says the Census Bureau's Consolidated Federal Funds Report, an annual study of federal expenditures and obligations.
The figures do not include sums such as loan and insurance payments by the Federal Emergency Management Agency nor separate Federal Aid to States funds. They do include other FEMA funding as well as spending for customs, immigration and the Transportation Security Administration.
Figures
Pennsylvania, the nation's sixth most populous state, received more than $186 million and ranked 17th in total amount of 2003 homeland security dollars but was 49th in spending for each of its 12.3 million people, according to the census figures.
The totals indicate $80.5 million was spent on homeland security grants in Pennsylvania from October 2002 through September 2003, while $20.5 million was spent on contracts and $84.9 million was allocated for salaries and wages.
Other high-population states fared better. New York was third in per-capita spending and Texas ranked sixth, while Florida was 26th and California was 31st. Illinois, like Pennsylvania, lagged in 44th place. The District of Columbia had a disproportionate share of per-capita spending with $3,152 for each of the 563,384 residents and nearby Virginia had the next-highest per-capita amount.
David M. Sanko, Pennsylvania Emergency Management director, said a total of $100 million for grants and contracts seemed correct, but he believed it was misleading to include the total salaries of homeland security employees, especially as part of a per-capita total.
"Does it mean that because a lot of the federal government employees are housed in Washington, D.C., that Washington, D.C., is more protected? I don't think so," Sanko said. "I think Washington, D.C., has a fine protection system, but it's not because of the largesse of the federal government being located there."
Other concerns
Per-capita levels may also not make the best comparison since they tend to be higher for less-populated areas, Sanko said. In addition, he said, funding has been shifting on the federal level to give "some money for everybody but extra money for high-threat urban areas."
A spokesman for Specter, R-Pa., echoed that, saying separate allocations have poured more than $90 million in additional funding into the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh regions to secure things such as nuclear power plants, ports, bridges, monuments, and stadiums.
By far the largest share of 2003 per-capita spending for the commonwealth went to Dauphin County, home to the state capital, Harrisburg.
The Philadelphia suburbs, Philadelphia and Delaware County, which includes the international airport and a number of refineries, received large per-capita amounts, but Bucks County received less and Chester County was second from the bottom. Fulton County was last, receiving only 72 cents for each of its 14,534 people. Also receiving large per-capita amounts were Allegheny County -- home to Pittsburgh -- and Westmoreland, Luzerne and Erie counties.
Sanko also said he could not comment on the county figures because PEMA allocates homeland security funding on the basis of nine regions, not by county.
The Homeland Security department, created in January 2003, includes the Coast Guard and FEMA as well as agencies formerly known as the Border Patrol, Immigration and Naturalization Service and Customs Service, as well as the Transportation Security Administration and Secret Service.