Efforts to remove pork from Homeland Security funding

Homeland Security Funding 'Pork' Under Fire:

...While spending government money on questionable projects isn't especially unusual in Washington, some government watchdogs and other groups say homeland security money should be off limits for pork barrel spending...

...DHS spending priorities are in the spotlight as members of Congress debate shifting to a "risk-based" funding formula. Advocates say this would reduce the spending of anti-terror dollars on projects that have little to do with homeland security.

Under current law, the DHS must give each state 0.75 percent of the overall pie of grants. This formula allows Wyoming to get about $37.94 per capita, while California gets about $5 per capita in DHS grants, according to Citizens Against Government Waste, a group that chronicles federal spending.

The House last month passed a bill that would reduce the minimum required grant to each state to 0.25 of the entire grant pool. For certain high risk states - such as New York and California - the minimum would be 0.45 percent.

Meanwhile, the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee last week passed a proposal for $3.1 billion over the next three years to be distributed based on a location's vulnerability to a terror attack...