Arnold Schwarzenegger
California State Governor

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today announced that California has received a dramatic increase in port and transit security funding from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). California’s share of the Port Security Grant Program for fiscal year 2008 increased to more than $69 million dollars, up from $45 million last year, which is roughly one-sixth of the total national allocation of $388 million dollars. Funding from the Transit Security Grant Program for California also saw a significant increase. California will receive more than $41 million dollars in fiscal year 2008, up from $35.6 million dollars last year.

“I applaud the federal government’s increase in funding to upgrade California’s port and transit security,” said Governor Schwarzenegger. “Today’s funding announcement shows that federal officials understand the unique risks we face in California and recognize the significance of our security needs. We must continue upgrading the state’s security infrastructure and ultimately protect the lives and property of Californians.”

The Governor and his Office of Homeland Security (OHS), led by Matthew Bettenhausen, have been heavily involved in pushing Congress and DHS for California’s fair share of this funding for port security, considering California ports handle nearly half the nation’s containerized goods.

The port areas of Los Angeles-Long Beach, San Francisco, San Diego, Port Hueneme, Redwood City, and Monterey Harbor will receive $69,499,524 million dollars combined for port security improvements:

Los Angeles-Long Beach: $38,156,658
Bay Area: $26,772,907
San Diego: $3,049,077
Port Hueneme: $645,563
Redwood City: $850,515
Monterey Municipal Harbor: $24,804

In mass transit security grants, California systems in the Bay Area and Los Angeles-Orange County received the following allocations:

San Francisco: $25,433,749
Los Angeles: $13,511,417
San Diego: $2,254,625

Sacramento is eligible to submit projects to compete for $8.5 million in available funding nationwide.

California has used such grant funding in the past for increasing the number of urban search and rescue teams, swift water rescue teams, enhancing and protecting critical infrastructure such as the Transbay tube, and disaster medical assistance teams that were of vital importance and help in last year’s wildfires. Another example is the Governor’s recent initiative to provide federal grant funds to purchase and install telephone emergency notification systems.

Since its creation in 2003, OHS has administered over $1.6 billion in homeland security grants. All of California’s 58 counties have received homeland security funds to purchase equipment, provide training and develop strategies and plans to both prevent acts of terrorism and respond to emergencies.