Panel OKs funding for fusion hub

CARSON CITY -- Gov. Jim Gibbons and the sheriffs of Clark and Washoe Counties have reached agreement on the creation of a state fusion hub in the Nevada capital that the governor had pushed strongly for in his state budget.

An announcement of the agreement came at a meeting of the Finance Committee of the Nevada Homeland Security Commission, where a recommendation on spending $18.1 million in federal grants for 2007 was approved.

Of that total, $7 million will go to three fusion centers, one each in Washoe and Clark County and the state hub. The state center will receive about $605,000 of the total for two positions and related costs.

With the agreement in place, Gibbons will now approach the Legislature's Interim Finance Committee to seek an additional $651,000 over two years in state funding for three more positions for the state hub, bringing the total staffing to five positions.

Kamala Carmazzi, deputy chief of the Division of Emergency Management, said agreement was reached with the sheriffs on establishing the three hubs once the responsibilities were made clear.

The state hub will be responsible for the 15 rural counties and native tribal organizations, she said.

Fusion hubs are intelligence gathering systems that are intended to ensure information sharing among various law enforcement agencies at all levels of government.

Local law enforcement officials had at one point opposed the creation of a state fusion hub.

The $7 million for the three hubs from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security grant funding for the upcoming federal fiscal year was the state's top priority. The original request had been for $10 million for the fusion centers, including $2.25 million for the state hub, but the amounts were reduced because of lower grant funding, Carmazzi said.

The state had asked for $39 million in federal grant funding, and received a bit less than half of that amount. The total to the state was $19.4 million, slightly lower than the $20.5 million received the previous year. Just under $1 million of the total is retained by the state for administration.

But of the total provided by the federal government, grant funding specifically aimed at Las Vegas increased almost 17 percent, to $9.3 million from $7.8 million.

The full Homeland Security Commission will consider the grant allocation recommendations when it meets Wednesday.

In addition to the fusion center funding, another nearly $3 million was recommended for improved communications between agencies, $1.3 million for a program called breaking down the barriers and nearly $4 million for a program called Silver Shield.

Carmazzi said the breaking down the barriers program deals primarily with the creation of teams that can respond to all aspects of a hazardous materials incident. The Silver Shield is a secure, web-based program that primarily is the program being used for reporting on critical infrastructure, both public and private. It also allows for sharing of information relative to incidents that have or are occurring within the counties.

Smaller amounts were recommended for evacuation and mass care plans, medical surge capacity expansion and advanced programs for bomb squads to defeat improvised explosive devices and weapons of mass destruction, among other programs.

Gibbons has continued to push for funding of the state's fusion hub despite a report by Congressional investigators questioning the effectiveness of the centers.

A USA Today story published last month said that more than 40 state-run operations set up after the 2001 terror attacks to help uncover terrorist plots are proving to be a costly but largely ineffective weapon against terrorism, according to congressional investigators.

In a response to the story, Gibbons, through his spokeswoman Melissa Subbotin, maintained his support for the fusion hub, saying it will help ensure the safety of residents and the millions of visitors who come to Nevada and Las Vegas every year.

The centers will unite local, state and federal agencies and ensure the coordination of information sharing, Subbotin said.

Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie could not be reached for comment Monday.