politics playing a role? Surely not.....

[ffmedic11]

Looking at the break down BC has graciously provided for all to see I noticed something. PA and NY have had the most awards thus far this year. Other states that are just as big have received far less awards. Is it just coincidence or could it be that The Secretary of Homeland Defense is from PA. I know this is going to raise some conflict and i'm sure they'll be some interesting reply's. Not trying to stir up a hornets nest. Just wanted some opinions on the subject and see how others feel. GOOD LUCK AND STAY SAFE.

[IAFFChad165]

Well just a quick glance at the FEMA site shows that PA and NY have to most applications by far.

http://www.usfa.fema.gov/fireservice/grants/2003grants/03requests.shtm

PA 1660 applications
NY 1245
IL 862
TX 837
OH 832
I'd say that this shows the awards to PA and NY are close to proportional with the amount of applications sent in.
Besides why would the conservative Tom Ridge help out the liberal majority of NY? I know political influnce helps at a State Rep and Senator level. I know my career and volly departments in PA had no help from him. The volly was successful,the career still waiting to hear.

[ffmedic11]

I'm glad you posted what you did. I've talked to alot of people about this and no one has brought up the fact that some states put in more applications than others. I'm sure this does have alot to do with how many awards each state is getting. GOOD LUCK AND STAY SAFE

[BC79er_OLDDELETE]

This is a recurring theme of trying to justify who has been getting what. Someone else tried to pin the President being from Texas as the reason there's so many grants being awarded here. As the others have said here, it's simply a statistical norm to find that more applications will yield more grants.

[waterboy1]

It really does not matter but I'll throw it out anyway.
Texas.........156 awards of 837 apps = 18%
Michigan......100 awards of 652 apps = 15%
Pennsylvania..248 awards of 1660 apps = 14%

Good Luck