RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - The flow of federal money into Virginia for state and local homeland security initiatives continues to dry up 11 years after the terrorist attacks that prompted the surge in such spending.
The state is receiving $13.1 million in homeland security and emergency planning grants this year. That's about $16 million less than a year ago and $37.3 million less than in 2008, just before the economy soured.
Funding for regional homeland security initiatives in the Richmond and Hampton Roads regions is gone. So are federal grants for emergency medical response in metropolitan areas.
Some officials worry the decreased funding points to complacency. But others say it instead shows that efforts are evolving into filling in the gaps and sustaining the programs and equipment already purchased.
