Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program
The NVFC supports full funding of the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant program. AFG is a competitive program that awards grants directly to fire and EMS departments in an effort to give every department the basic tools needed to respond to all hazards. Fire and EMS departments can apply for federal assistance for training, equipment, vehicles, communications equipment, health and safety programs and fire prevention and education programs.
The SAFER program provides grants to fire departments for the hiring of personnel and/or to fire departments or regional and state fire associations to implement retention and recruitment programs. Ten percent of SAFER funding is statutorily required to be set aside for volunteer recruitment and retention. In addition, the program includes provisions that ensure at least ten percent of the funds for hiring firefighters go to volunteer and majority-volunteer departments and that any firefighter hired under this program cannot be discriminated against for or prohibited from engaging in volunteer activities in another jurisdiction during off-duty hours.
The NVFC participates regularly in stakeholder meetings hosted by DHS to discuss AFG and SAFER program priorities. Every year, three NVFC board members participate in criteria development for AFG and SAFER at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, MD.
In FY 2011, Congress appropriated $405 million each for AFG and SAFER. The President proposed funding AFG at $250 million in FY 2012 while asking Congress to provide $420 million for SAFER. In May the Republicans on the House Homeland Security Appropriations Committee proposed legislation funding AFG at $200 million and SAFER at $150 million in FY 2012. An amendment offered by Congressmen LaTourette (R-OH) and Pascrell (D-NJ) increasing funding for both AFG and SAFER to $335 million was adopted overwhelmingly by the full House on June 1. On June 2 the House passed the Homeland Security Appropriations bill, which now moves to the Senate.
AFG and SAFER are due to be reauthorized. On March 10, 2011, Senator Joe Lieberman introduced the Fire Grants Reauthorization Act (S. 550). S. 550 was reported favorably out of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in May but not before an amendment that the NVFC opposed was adopted eliminating the authority of DHS to continue to make AFG and SAFER grants after October 1, 2016. The NVFC opposes this "sunset" language.
On June 22, Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), the Ranking Member of the House Science and Technology Committee, introduced the FIRE Grants Reauthorization Act of 2011 (H.R. 2269) along with a bi-partisan group of 14 original co-sponsors. The legislation, which would reauthorize the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant program through FY 2016, is nearly identical to legislation from the 111th Congress, which passed the House by a vote of 395-31 in November 2009. The NVFC, along with other major fire service organizations, sent a letter to Congresswoman Johnson expressing support for H.R. 2269.
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