NVFC Calls on Congress to Provide Level Funding for Critical Fire Service Programs

February 11, 2013

On February 1, the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) joined with other national fire service organizations to request that funding for the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program, Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant program, and United States Fire Administration (USFA) not be reduced in FY 2013.

AFG and SAFER were funded at $337.5 million each in FY 2012, while USFA received slightly more than $44 million. Last year the House passed FY 2013 appropriations legislation that would have extended the $337.5 million funding level for AFG and SAFER but reduced USFA funding to $42.5 million. Separate legislation approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee provided flat funding for AFG and SAFER but also provided $44.02 million for USFA.

By law, Congress was supposed to finish the FY 2013 appropriations by October of last year but instead they have passed a series of “continuing resolutions,” which allow various federal agencies to continue operating without establishing specific funding levels for the year. The NVFC originally requested flat funding for AFG/SAFER and USFA back in March of 2012, when the FY 2013 appropriations process was just getting underway.

Click here to read the letters to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees.