Stimulus Bill Signed Today: What you need to do next

President Obama is set to sign the economic stimulus law today. As detailed in a previous post, the law includes significant funds for public safety. A new report from Galain Solutions indicates that the range of total funds available is anywhere from $4 billion to $13.8 billion for local public safety. The range is so large because of the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund. The vast majority of the Stabilization Fund would go to education, but governors can spend 18 percent of their allotment—over $9.7 billion—on public safety and other government services.

While the stimulus bill promises some relief, public safety agencies can’t just sit back and relax. Galain’s report suggests the following:

• Get prepared. Now is the time to start making plans, even if the rules are not 100 percent clear at this point. This applies to both buyers and sellers.

• Be heard. Use your contacts in your governor’s office and with your local legislators to express your opinions about spending the state stabilization funds. Remember, most of the money is allocated for education, but the relatively small percentage that could be spent on public safety is still a significant amount of money.

• Be informed. Federal and state officials will now scramble to figure out how to administer this large amount of money. They’ll then start publicizing the rules for applying for the money. Pay attention, and use your contacts with state administrators to get as much advance notice as possible.

• Prepare for oversight. Despite the pressures to move quickly, new oversight requirements will likely come from Washington. Plus, local procurement rules aren’t waived just because grant money is involved.

•Expect competition. This is true for both buyers and sellers. Be assured that the funds will attract vendors who’ve not competed in public safety markets before. This can be good and bad. Strong solutions and credible stories will be at a premium. It will be important for vendors to stick to fundamentals – good solutions, strong service, solid relationships with buyers, and most importantly, integrity. On the “buy side”, there will be competition over which programs should get funding.

The full report will be available on the Galain Web site later today.

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Comment by Ben Waller on February 18, 2009 at 11:29am: Department need has nothing to do with size. A big department can be a "needing" department.
Based on population served, some of the biggest departments are the neediest.
When FDNY, Philly, Atlanta, and other large cities are closing stations, browning out companies, freezing hires to replace retirees, etc., I think that puts them well up the "needy" list.

Comment by Art "ChiefReason" Goodrich on February 18, 2009 at 11:24am: First of all; I'm not a big fan of FIRE Act for several reasons that I won't go into here.
Second; peer review of the grants are done and reviewers are NOT allowed to review a grant from their department. That's a fact. I don't like the "competitive" nature of the process, but it is what it is.
Lastly; get it while you can. The program gets cut every year and the "competition" for less money increases.
One general observation: it is a given that, since 9/11, the most populated areas are seeing the most money. Terrorists will not attack cornfields according to our intelligence folks.
And besides; when you are spending most of your budget on salary and benefits, then, doesn't it make sense that you need money for new equipment?
What's the problem?
TCSS.
Art

Comment by doyle a shelton on February 18, 2009 at 10:07am: It doesn't help when the assessors are giving their own dept's grant money. They should recuse themselves from grading their own dept's when grant money is concerned.

Comment by Don Vuletic on February 18, 2009 at 10:05am: You said it Shelton. It always goes to big departments. And needing departments are always overlooked. I see some small departments with trucks almost 20 years old.

Comment by doyle a shelton on February 18, 2009 at 9:12am: If it does, the larger departments will get the mother-lode as they always do. Those smaller departments that really need the funding will not get what they need. History will repeat itself in the DFW area again.

Comment by Dale Dittrick on February 18, 2009 at 8:37am: Who knows, maybe for the first time the FIRE Act grants will reach the initially intended 1 Billion we tried to attain.

Comment by roy yoder on February 18, 2009 at 8:12am: amen they all got to go and put in term limits. pray and act.

Comment by doyle a shelton on February 18, 2009 at 8:03am: While I hope the stimulus bill will work, I doubt it will. The political parties are playing the same mind games and not playing together to get the problems solved (their job!!!). We will be seeing another"stimulus" bill w/ more money (ours and our g'childrens) because they didn't get the job done the first time. I say we vote out all the incumbents the next election and see what the remaining half does after they see their cronies "retired" from gov't service. I voted against all the incumbents in the last election, and I'll do it again.

Comment by Alejandro Coronel Barredo on February 18, 2009 at 7:59am: Totally agree, greetings from Chile and 100% percent vol. firefighter, best wishes for your new stage in Obama america´s life. I´m very proud to be in these network.

Stimulus Bill Signed Today: What you need to do next

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