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Fire Programs Targeted for Major Cuts in House Appropriations Legislation

Published Date: 05.24.2011

On May 12 the House Appropriations Committee released details of draft FY 2012 Homeland Security Appropriations Legislation, which includes a $1.1 billion overall reduction in spending, including substantial cuts to the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) and Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant programs and the US Fire Administration (USFA). Under the bill, funding for AFG and SAFER would be reduced from $405 million each in FY 2011 to $200 million and $150 million, respectively, in FY 2012. Additionally, the bill would reduce USFA funding from approximately $45.5 million to approximately $42.5 million.

“The funding levels for AFG, SAFER, and USFA proposed by the Majority on the House Appropriations Committee are a slap in the face to the nation’s first responders,” said National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) Chairman Philip C. Stittleburg. “More than 42 percent of the $1.1 billion in cuts proposed by the Committee come out of AFG, SAFER, and USFA alone. The House bill would reduce overall funding for DHS by three percent and in doing so slashes AFG by more than 50 percent, SAFER by nearly 63 percent, and USFA by almost seven percent. This isn’t just a situation where we have to take our lumps along with everyone else in a difficult budget year. This is the Majority on the House Appropriations Committee targeting fire service programs for vicious cuts at a time when so many departments are struggling financially because of the economic downturn.”

AFG directs funding to local fire and EMS agencies to purchase equipment, training, and apparatus with a goal of bringing all departments up to a baseline level of readiness. Funds are distributed competitively, based on need as determined by panels of firefighters who review and rank applications. In 2007, a DHS assessment found the program to be 95 percent effective – the second highest rating in the Department behind only the U.S. Secret Service. In FY 2009, the most recent year for which data is available, nearly 20,000 fire and EMS agencies across the country applied for more than $3 billion through AFG.

In addition to being competitive and effective programs with a broad base of support within the fire service, AFG and SAFER have proven to be popular politically. Just this past February the Majority on the House Appropriations Committee proposed eliminating SAFER altogether and reducing funding for AFG to $300 million in FY 2011. An amendment offered on the House floor by Congressman Bill Pascrell, with the NVFC’s support, to restore AFG and SAFER funding to their previous years’ level was adopted overwhelmingly, drawing a majority of votes from Republicans and Democrats alike. When Congress eventually passed the final FY 2011 appropriations bill, AFG and SAFER were each funded at $405 million.

“We are going to work with our allies on the Hill and with the other fire groups like we did earlier this year to ensure that these critical programs receive adequate funding in FY 2012,” said Stittleburg. “I urge our members to contact their U.S. Representative to ask them to reject the cuts proposed in the House’s FY 2012 Homeland Security appropriations bill.”

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