News
NVFC and Other Fire Groups Call on Congressional Appropriators to Support AFG and SAFER
Secretary Napolitano Testifies Before House and Senate on President’s Budget Request
On February 23, the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) along with a coalition of other fire service organizations sent letters to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees and the House and Senate Subcommittees on Homeland Security Appropriations asking them to fund the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant program at $420 million each. In FY 2010, Congress appropriated $390 million for AFG and $420 million for SAFER. The President included $305 million each for AFG and SAFER in his FY 2011 budget request.
The letter emphasizes the importance of AFG (referred to in the letter as FIRE) and SAFER, while acknowledging the difficult budget situation that Congress is facing this year:
While we understand the current economic climate necessitates prudent spending on the part of the federal government, we object to the Administration’s proposed cuts to the FIRE and SAFER grant programs. The grants are vital to the ability of the fire and emergency services to protect the public and the national infrastructure. We cannot emphasize enough the importance of these critical public safety programs. As you begin consideration of the FY 2011 spending bill, we respectfully request that you maintain the current funding level for the SAFER program at $420 million. Furthermore, we would encourage you to provide a modest increase of $30 million to the FIRE Grant Program, which would bring that program to an equal level of funding as SAFER. Adequate federal funding for the FIRE Act and SAFER grant programs is critical to ensuring the fire service can fulfill its mission. Moreover, it would have a direct and immediate impact on spurring local economic activity.
On February 24 and 25, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano testified before the House and Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittees, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC), and the House Homeland Security Committee regarding the President’s FY 2011 budget request. NVFC staff attended the hearings, which addressed the entire DHS budget request. Senators Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Susan Collins (R-ME), the Chairman and Ranking Member, respectively, of HSGAC, both expressed concern over reductions to AFG and SAFER in the President’s budget. Senator Thomas Carper (D-DE) expressed similar concerns and submitted a question for the record to Secretary Napolitano.
In the House Homeland Security Committee hearing, Representative Bill Pascrell (D-NJ), expressed strong opposition to the President’s proposed cuts to AFG and SAFER in a statement that the NVFC posted on our Twitter account:
“I am greatly dismayed and indeed disturbed that for the second year in a row this Administration has decided to cut the critical FIRE grants program that provides equipment and training to our firefighters and this year has decided to cut the SAFER program as well, which helps maintain staffing levels in our nation’s firehouses.“Overall these two programs have been cut by $200 million which is 25 percent less than what we passed in FY 2010…..at a time when we are still fighting our way out of a deep recession and municipalities are being forced to slash public safety budgets everyday this is EXACTLY the wrong time to cut vital grants programs like FIRE and SAFER.”
Later in the hearing, Representatives Dina Titus (D-NV) and Laura Richardson (D-CA) associated themselves with Pascrell’s remarks and expressed their opposition to reducing AFG and SAFER funding.
NVFC staff, along with staff from other national fire service organizations, met with staff from the House and Senate Appropriations Committees during the first week in March to discuss FY 2011 DHS appropriations. After the Committees receive their budget allocations for the fiscal year and know how much funding is available, they will begin the process of drafting legislation.
The NVFC will continue to advocate for adequate funding levels for AFG and SAFER and will keep you informed about developments as they occur through the E-update, our Twitter and Facebook accounts, and special news alerts as necessary.
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Kimberly Ettinger
Director of Communications
202-887-5700 ext. 19
David Finger
Director of Government Relations
202-887-5700 ext. 12