This comes after Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., wrote a three-page letter to the U.S. Government Accountability Office requesting an audit after Orlando was not awarded a federal grant. The Federal Emergency Management Agency awards the money to areas at a higher risk of terrorism attacks.
Local law enforcement leaders have testified before Congress about the lack of funding in the region through the Urban Area Security Initiative grant program, explaining the money is needed because Orlando is at more risk of another attack after the June 12 shooting at Pulse nightclub.
Orlando had been receiving money on and off for years from the grant, which has doled out $8.2 billion to metropolitan areas believed to be at higher risk for terrorism over the past decade, but was taken off the recipient list in 2014 based on FEMA's risk formula.
FEMA told the Orlando Sentinel part of the reason why the region was not awarded grants was because Congress directed them to limit the number of cities that got funding to areas that make up about 85 percent of nationwide risk, said agency spokesman Rafael Lemaitre. Orlando was just shy of making the cut.
Rubio, who is running for re-election in a close race against U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Jupiter, said he's glad review is being done.
"Our law enforcement officials believe they aren't getting the proper amount of resources, and it affects their ability to prepare and respond to terrorist attacks like the one at Pulse nightclub," he said in a statement. "With increased terrorist threats, we need to make sure our local leaders and first responders aren't being shortchanged and the federal government is correctly evaluating the threats to cities in Florida."
Among the requests, Rubio and Johnson asked for auditors to look at FEMA's method for selecting and deselecting cities for funding, examine whether their approach is effective in the evolving national threat landscape, and look into whether FEMA has evaluated the effectiveness of the funding of the Urban Area Security Initiative grant along with the State Homeland Security grant program.
The GAO agreed to conduct the audit "but the work will not get underway for a few months," said agency spokesman Chuck Young. An Oct. 6 letter from the agency to Rubio estimates the audit would begin in about five months.
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