Mass Loses $7M in Homeland Security Grants
BOSTON — The Trump administration has cut $6.9 million in public safety funding for Massachusetts communities.
Gov. Maura Healey said the U.S. Department of Homeland Security notified the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security on Saturday that its previous award allocation of $22.2 million from the federal Homeland Security Grant Program is being reduced to just $15.3 million.
This abrupt loss of nearly $7 million jeopardizes Massachusetts' ability to equip local emergency services and safeguard critical infrastructure against terrorist threats and other emergencies, she said.
"President Trump and [Homeland Security] Secretary Kristi Noem just made every community in Massachusetts and in states across the country less safe. Our cities and towns use this grant funding to keep their residents safe from threats and support law enforcement," Healey said. "President Trump is playing politics with our public safety, and he's using these funding cuts to punish those who disagree with him. He needs to restore the funding that we are owed."
Delivered without notice and only days before the end of the fiscal year, this sudden cut threatens to destabilize preparedness efforts statewide immediately, said the governor.
EOPSS administers homeland security grant funds through its Office of Grants and Research, which distributes them to the state's four Regional Homeland Security Advisory Councils, the Metro Boston Urban Area Security Initiative, and several state agencies.
Collectively, these partners provide the training, planning and critical resources that state and local stakeholders, as well as communities, need to respond to evolving threats, terrorist incidents and natural disasters, according to the governor's office.
Healey said her administration stands with Attorney General Andrea Joy Campell, who on Tuesday joined a coalition of 12 attorneys general in filing an emergency lawsuit against the Trump administration's reallocation of federal homeland security funds. The lawsuit seeks to block politically motivated cuts that diverted lifesaving resources away from Massachusetts and other states, despite decades of bipartisan practice treating all states equitably in disaster preparedness.
This sudden slash in funding undermines DHS's own stated priorities of strengthening emergency preparedness and enhancing community resilience by stripping resources from programs specifically designed to achieve those goals, according to state officials. The reductions will affect the Boston Regional Intelligence Center, which coordinates threat-related information sharing among local, state, federal, and private partners, as well as other competitive funds that support protective equipment, advanced training, and critical exercises such as Active Shooter Response.
Past homeland security grants have supported investments including rapid deployment robots and situational awareness drones for fire services, mobile emergency operations equipment for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, dive team gear for the State Police Marine Unit, and advanced training programs for Massport Fire Rescue.
The administration calls for the immediate reinstatement of homeland security funds to ensure Massachusetts and its partners can continue to protect communities and ensure our collective ability to prepare for, respond to and recover from emerging threats.
Tags: emergency preparedness, federal grants,
