Project Summary: The administration and Congress face conflicting political pressures and alternative methodologies when determining how to allocate federal homeland security grant assistance to state, local, tribal, and territorial governments. Originally, grants were allocated based on population or per capita-based formulas, with guaranteed minimum funding to each state. The underlying assumption of population formulas was that the greater the population, the greater the threat, risk, and vulnerability. The use of these formulas created tension between urban and rural areas. Rural residents considered their safety no less important than that of residents of urban areas, and they argued that terrorists could attack anywhere in the United States. Later, risk-based funding formulas were used, with each state competing for federal homeland security grant dollars based on results of standardized—but subjective—risk assessments.