Jewish Federations Praise Proposed Boost In Security Funding
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
(JTA) — Jewish federations lauded a proposed increase in security grant funding that helps protect Jewish institutions.
Congress reached an agreement Sunday night that would increase funding for the Department of Homeland Security’s Nonprofit Security Grant Program by $5 million from the 2016 allocation, the federations said in a Monday statement. The House and the Senate are expected to vote on the bill later this week.
“We are grateful that Congress has acted upon our concerns and has agreed to direct $25 million in new funding to the NSGP program this year in bipartisan spending legislation that is expected to pass later this week,” William Daroff, director of the Washington office for The Jewish Federations of North America, said in the statement.
A budget plan by President Donald Trump proposed rolling the funds for the program into broader federal emergency preparedness funds. The vast majority of funds have helped upgrade security at Jewish institutions.
Last month, Democratic and Republican lawmakers in the House called in a letter for increased funding to the program, from $20 million to $50 million a year.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
