AFG and SAFER Reauthorization Passes the House of Representatives

May 21, 2024

On May 8 the House of Representatives passed an amended version of S. 870, the Fire Grants and Safety Act, by a vote of 393 Yes, 13 No, and 1 present. This bill would reauthorize the Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG), Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grants, and U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) through the end of Fiscal Year (FY) 2028 and extend the statutory sunset for AFG and SAFER though the end of FY 2030.

The current authorizations for AFG, SAFER, and USFA expired on September 30, 2023, and the current statutory sunset for AFG and SAFER is approaching on September 30 of this year. If S. 870 does not become law before September 30, the AFG and SAFER grant programs would have to start the process of shutting down.

S. 870 originally passed the Senate by a vote of 95 to 2 in April 2023. The version of S.870 that passed the House on May 8 is an amended version of the Senate passed bill; it will therefore have to pass the Senate again before it can head to the President’s desk. S. 870 was amended in a bipartisan agreement that replaced its original text with the text of the House AFG, SAFER, and USFA reauthorization bill (H.R. 4090) and the text of a bipartisan nuclear licensing bill. View the amended text here.

It is important that your Senators continue to hear about the urgent need to pass the amended version of S. 870 and send it to the President’s desk without delay. Use this NVFC legislative Action Alert to contact your Senators with just a couple of clicks to tell them to pass the bill.