Faster and Smarter Funding for First Responders Act of 2005
Latest action. Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Faster and Smarter Funding for First Responders Act of 2005 - (Sec. 3) Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to set forth provisions governing Department of Homeland Security (DHS) grant funding for first responders pursuant to the State Homeland Security Grant Program, the Urban Area Security Initiative, and the Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention Program. Excludes non-DHS programs, fire grant programs, and the Emergency Management Performance Grant program and Urban Search and Rescue Grants program authorized by specified Federal laws.
Makes eligible for a covered grant any State, region, or directly eligible tribe. Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to require any State applying for a covered grant to submit a three-year State homeland security plan, to be developed in consultation with local governments and first responders. Precludes a grant award to a State absent approval of such plan. Sets forth minimum contents for grant applications, including the designation of regional and tribal liaisons (if the applicant is a region or directly eligible tribe). Requires regional and tribal applications to be coordinated with State applications.
Requires the Secretary to establish a First Responder Grants Board. Directs the Board to evaluate and annually prioritize pending applications for covered grants based upon the degree to which they would lessen the threat to, vulnerability of, and consequences for persons (including transient commuters and tourists) and critical infrastructure. Requires such evaluation and prioritization to be based upon the Directorate for Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection's most current risk assessment of terrorist threats against the United States. Requires the Board to coordinate with State, local, regional, and tribal officials in establishing grant criteria and to specifically consider: (1) terrorist threats against specified critical infrastructure sectors; and (2) specified types of threats to such critical infrastructure sectors and to populations in all areas of the United States, urban and rural. Sets forth minimum funding amounts for grants, providing for larger grant awards to applicants that have a significant international land border and/or adjoin a body of water within North America through which an international boundary line extends.
The summary continues for 10 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Passed House amended" stage on May 12, 2005. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on May 12, 2005: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 109th Congress (2005-06), 482 of the 10,701 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 4.5 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
CHRISTOPHER COX (R-CA) introduced it on April 12, 2005, and 40 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 20 Democrats, 20 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on April 12, 2005, 7821 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 7791 days ago, on May 12, 2005.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 109th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2007 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers