Key Grant Funding to Protect Non-Profits and Houses of Worship Quadrupled in Government Funding Bill
Funding Bill Also Provides $17.5 Million for Separate Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention Program
WASHINGTON – Key grant funding to protect non-profit institutions, including houses of worship, a major priority for Senator Maggie Hassan, will be quadrupled as part of the final bipartisan budget agreement to fund the government for the next fiscal year.
During the last fiscal year, FEMA distributed $10 million to states through the State Homeland Security Grant program to help non-profit institutions strengthen their physical security. In August 2019, Senator Hassan and the New Hampshire delegation announced that seven New Hampshire religious institutions were awarded a total of $150,000 through the program. Under the funding agreement, this program will be quadrupled, allowing FEMA to distribute a total of $40 million to states to help non-profits harden their buildings’ physical security.
The funding agreement also provides $17.5 million for targeted violence and terrorism prevention. This new funding initiative provides $10 million for grants to local and nonprofit organizations to determine the most effective terrorism prevention activities, for both international and domestic threats. The remaining $7.5 million is to support the formation of prevention frameworks and to conduct awareness briefings across the country.
“Synagogues, churches, and mosques should be places of comfort, not fear,” Senator Hassan said. “But sadly, given domestic and foreign terrorist threats, we need to ensure that community and religious organizations have the resources they need to help protect their members. Increasing funding for this vital non-profit security grant program is important for helping mitigate the impact of an attack, but hardening our buildings alone is not enough. That is why it’s so important that this government funding bill also restarts a program to fund effective community-based terrorism prevention efforts, and I will conduct oversight to help ensure that the Department is effectively carrying out this mission.”
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