TOWNS’ BILL LOCAL PREPAREDNESS ACQUISITION ACT SIGNED INTO LAW

Washington, D.C. – On Thursday, June 26th, 2008, Rep. Edolphus “Ed” Towns is proud to announce that President Bush signed into law H.R. 3179, the “Local Preparedness Acquisition Act.” The law, written by Towns, authorizes state and local governments to purchase homeland security and public safety equipment using the same pre-approved discount prices the federal government receives. It is expected to save millions of dollars for local governments, including New York City.

“Today, we have taken a critical step for state and local governments. This bill is great for taxpayers and great for the economy because it cuts the red tape for purchases that make our communities safer,” said Rep. Towns.

Participation in the cooperative purchasing program is voluntary for both state and local governments and vendors, and it requires no federal spending. The GSA schedules are catalogues of more than 4 million commercial goods and services currently available to federal agencies at discounted prices. The Local Preparedness Act would enable providers on the GSA schedule to contract with state and local governments for fire alarm systems, facility management systems, access control devices, perimeter security and video surveillance systems, and countless other homeland security goods and services, at GSA-approved reduced prices.

Towns concluded, “This new law will go a long way to leverage state and local emergency response capacity and assure our readiness to protect Americans against attacks – foreign and domestic.”