NGA Center Survey Reveals Homeland Security Challenges Facing States

States are working more closely and more effectively with federal agencies than ever before to share information that could prevent terrorist attacks, but their relationship with the federal government in a number of other key security areas remains a work in progress, according to a new issue brief from the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center).

The brief examines the challenges facing state homeland security directors and highlights the results of an annual survey of the 56 state, D.C. and territorial homeland security directors who collectively comprise the Governors Homeland Security Advisors Council (GHSAC). GHSAC was created by the NGA Center in 2006 to provide a forum for state homeland security officials to share ideas and best practices and to review and analyze the impacts of federal homeland security activities on the states.

"This survey gauges state progress in areas such as governance and strategy, interagency and intergovernmental coordination and infrastructure protection," said John Thomasian, director of the NGA Center. "The 2007 results show that state policies, priorities and operations continue to evolve to meet both natural and man-made threats."

States' top security concerns-developing interoperable communications systems, coordinating the efforts of state and local agencies, protecting critical infrastructure and establishing state intelligence fusion centers-have remained relatively stable since the first survey of state homeland security officials was conducted in 2005. This year, states also identified strengthening citizen preparedness as a top priority.

Although survey results showed that more than half of states have "significantly" involved local governments in developing strategic plans, including grant funding allocation plans, states expressed concerns in a number of areas related to federal relations and National Guard staffing. Key findings of the survey include:

• States continue to report uneven progress in their relationship with the federal government, specifically with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS);
• Most states said DHS should coordinate policies with the states prior to their release or implementation;
• States need federal funding to support personnel to implement and sustain national initiatives that are carried out locally;
• States want federal agencies to coordinate their security clearances through a unified database to ensure that a clearance issued by one agency is recognized by other agencies; and
• Only about one-third of states have at least 75 percent of their National Guard forces available to respond to disasters.

Individual homeland security directors offered useful strategies for improving federal-state relations, including decentralizing DHS to regional offices, involving states in the design phase of initiatives and reducing the number of unfunded mandates being imposed on states.

To learn more about actions governors are taking to improve security in their states, visit www.nga.org/center/hst.