By Ed Somers
August 4, 2003

During the 71st Annual Conference of Mayors in Denver, Conference leaders declared that the federal plan for distribution of homeland security funds — which works through the states — must be closely monitored to determine whether it is being followed, whether it is performing adequately, and whether improvements can be made.

Therefore, the Conference has launched a Homeland Security Monitoring Project, and is surveying its members as to how funding distribution is working in the states and at the local level.

The survey requests information from cities on the funding received or expected to be received through many of the federal homeland security programs, on the extent to which top security priorities are being addressed, and on the adequacy of local involvement in the process used by states to distribute the funding. The Conference will highlight both problems found to exist and best practices. Ten separate homeland security funding programs are covered in the survey.

The deadline for the survey is August 15. Copies of the survey and background information are available at usmayors.org.