• Senate may yet add funds to border security before going on recess

    The Senate may yet vote for additional funds for border security before leaving for a month-long recess; Senator Schumer is going to try to push through a bill that provides an additional $600 million for the border; this includes $176 million to hire 1,500 more officers to form a strike force to be deployed in critical areas along the border; Schumer would pay for his measure by raising fees on visas for temporary skilled workers sent to the United States by Indian companies; Republicans, who propose a similar measure, prefer to pay for additional border security by taking unused money from the Obama administration’s economic stimulus program, an idea unacceptable to Democrats

  • House's homeland security bill doubles cybersecurity R&D budget

    The 2010 Homeland Security Science and Technology Authorization Act would double the cybersecurity research and development budget to $75 million for each of the next two years and authorize another $500 million for a study to find ways to promote industry best practices through, for example, liability requirements that hold hardware and software vendors responsible for damages caused by a security breach

  • Appropriations bill adds money for port security, Coast Guard, ground transit

    A homeland security appropriations bill being considered by Congress would increase money for port security, save a threatened Coast Guard program from elimination and establish harsher penalties for anyone who intentionally violates airport security rules; the bill allocates $350 million for port security, an increase of $50 million over last year, and $350 million for rail, bus and transit security, a $38 million increase

  • California homeland security market as large as the entire U.S. aviation security market

    New report about the homeland security market in the United States finds that DHS’s spending account for only 18.3 percent of the total homeland security spending in the United States; the combined state and local market share leads the field with 23.7 percent, with the Department of Defense coming in second with 22.5 percent; California’s FY2009 homeland security market was nearly as large as the entire U.S. aviation security market

  • DHS unveils more Than $1.8 billion in FY 2010 preparedness grants

    DHS announces more than $1.8 billion in preparedness grants; the grants are designed to help states, urban areas, tribal governments, and non-profit organizations enhance their protection, prevention, response, and recovery capabilities for risks associated with potential terrorist attacks and other hazards.

  • Senate subcommittee approves about $15 billion to bolster border activity

    Measure allocates $3.57 billion for 20,370 border patrol agents, with 17,000 based on the U.S. Southwest border, more than double the agents in 2004; about $20 million would go toward counter-drug initiatives for southbound operations lanes, personnel, and equipment to stop the outbound flow of weapons and currency used in the drug trade; $20.5 million for one additional unmanned aircraft system and support equipment; the bill include $9 billion for the Coast Guard

  • Bioterrorism experts criticize cuts in BioShield to pay for teacher retention

    In order to find funds which would prevent teacher layoffs, House Democrats craft an appropriations bill which takes $2 billion from a bioterrorism emergency program; security experts criticize what they call a lack of foresight

  • IT security accounts for largest share of homeland security spending

    Aviation security may be more visible than IT security, but a new research says that the former accounts for only 4.6 of the homeland security market, while the latter accounts for 23 percent; public and private homeland security spending will grow from $69 billion 2010 to $85 billion by 2014

  • Scotland Yard: U.K. proposed budget Cuts "will increase terrorism risk"

    The U.K. government wants the Scotland Yard to find £150 million in savings as part of “eye-watering” Treasury budget cuts; the assistant commissioner of Scotland Yard, says these cuts cannot be made without increasing the risk of a terrorist attack

  • U.S. gives $2 billion to solar energy companies

    The Obama administration awarded nearly $2 billion to two solar energy companies for three large solar energy projects — in Arizona, Indiana, and Colorado; the projects will create more than 3,000 jobs, power 70,000 homes, and produce millions of solar panels each year

  • California city votes to disband police force

    In a cost-cutting measure, the city of San Carlos, California, has voted to dissolve its police force and to begin the steps to outsource the job of law enforcement to the San Mateo County sheriff’s office as a cost-cutting measure

  • All earmarks in 2011 homeland security spending bill go to Democrats -- save one

    There are nearly $70 million worth of earmarks in the proposed $43.9 billion Homeland Security spending bill for 2011; all the earmarks went to Democrats — save one (won by Republican Rep. Joseph Coe of Louisiana); both the number of homeland security earmarks and their total value in dollars are down in the 2011 budget compared to the 2010 budget

  • U.K. government slashes police's cybercrime budget by 30 percent

    When on the opposition benches, Tory MP James Brokenshire (Old Bexley & Sidcup) said: “if you don’t prioritize cybercrime you compromise national cyber-security”; he is now a junior Home Office minister, presiding over a 30 percent cut in the cybercrime budget of the U.K. national police; security experts, industry, and academics are not happy

  • Senate panel rejects Pentagon counter-IED group $400 million emergency funding request

    Senate panel denies Pentagon’s counter-IED group a $400 million emergency request; lawmakers say that counter-IED organization has misused funds allocated to it — among other things, to hire private contractors in Iraq to hunt down insurgents; senators also criticized the group for planning to use emergency funds to fund long term projects such as airships and UAV radar

  • Growth in U.S. regulatory spending continues

    Since 2000, the U.S. annual budget outlays for regulatory activities increased by more than 75 percent; one example: the fiscal 2011 budget calls for more than $59 billion dollars to be spend on homeland security — this is the largest federal regulatory budget to date