Rep. Patrick Ryan (D-N.Y.) arrived in Goshen on Sept. 6 to highlight close to $2 million in pending federal earmarks to enhance the 911 center and jail operation in Orange County.
Besides Orange County initiatives, Ryan has also secured more than $2 million for Dutchess County’s crime intelligence center and central radio system and nearly $2 million for Ulster County’s emergency operations center and sheriff’s office.
The two bills await further action by the full House and Senate.
“There are a lot of reasons to be dismayed these days, but we always want to take a moment to share good, positive news about teamwork and government at all levels working together,” said Ryan at a press conference inside the Orange County 911 center.
“Emergency management has always been one of my top issues,” said Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus, “When we modernize this [911 center] and add new capacities, it is going to do one thing—it is going to protect the public. Period.”
More than $1 million is earmarked for a real-time intelligence center in the county’s emergency services building, including an upgraded two-story-tall display wall to accommodate live video feeds for faster and more efficient response on the ground.
According to county Emergency Services Commissioner Peter Cirigliano, targeted video sources range from traffic cameras, license plate readers, satellite images of incident scenes, and drones to cameras in schools and other critical infrastructure across the county.
The rest of the earmarks, at close to $800,000, will pay for 200 new body cameras for correctional officers working in the county jail.
“This funding by Congressman Ryan will be instrumental in aiding our members” said Orange County Sheriff Paul Arteta at the press conference, “Body camera are instrumental in collecting evidence and adding another layer of transparency to our office.”
These bills, too, await further action by the full House and Senate.
Federal earmarks, also known as community project funding, are direct monetary investments in local nonprofit projects at the request of congressional lawmakers.
These member funding requests are baked into the annual budgets of corresponding federal agencies and, in their entirety, must remain below 0.5 percent of federal discretionary spending, according to guidelines by the House Appropriations Committee.
During the last federal budget cycle, Congress moved to earmark $16 billion for more than 8,000 local projects, according to a tally by independent watchdog Taxpayers for Common Sense.
Though the federal fiscal year starts on Oct. 1, congressional members don’t often pass all 12 spending bills by that date and instead resort to continuing resolutions. In the past budget cycle, federal lawmakers didn’t approve all appropriations until March.
