Omnibus Bill Ups Funding For Nonprofits Facing Security Risks
Police stand outside the JCC of St. Paul, Minnesota, after it was evacuated in response to a bomb threat. Image by Facebook/Star Tribune
The $1.3 trillion spending bill passed by the house includes a major boost in funding to protect not-for-profits from security threats.
The Non-Profit Security Program out of the Department of Homeland Security will see its budget more than double, from $25 million to $60 million. The program provides grants to not-for-pprofits for security equipment and training to deter and combat terrorism.
Jewish Federations of North America, which lobbied for the funding increase, said in a statement that, “Nonprofits generally, and Jewish communal institutions specifically, have been the victims of a growing number of violent attacks.”
In 2012, 97% of the non-profit security grants were awarded to Jewish Institutions.
The bill also provides the U.S. State Department’s Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism with at least $1 million for programs to combat anti-Semitism abroad and funding for the U.S. State Department’s Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues.
After threatening to veto the bill over immigration policies such as DACA and funding for the border wall, President Trump announced he will sign the bill into law.
Contact Avichai Scher at [email protected] or on Twitter, @avi_scher
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
