Fire groups remain hopeful on grants despite budget cut plans

By FireRescue1 Staff

WASHINGTON, DC — Firefighter organizations are hopeful about securing adequate funding for the fire service despite preliminary proposals to cut grant allocations.

President Obama's Fiscal Year 2011 budget request proposes $305 million each for AFG and SAFER, a reduction from the appropriated levels of $390 million and $420 million respectively in FY 2010.

In proposing $305 million for SAFER for 2011, President Obama noted that Congress is likely to add an additional $500 million for SAFER as part of an emergency jobs package, according to the IAFF.

The House of Representatives included the $500 million for SAFER in a jobs bill that it approved in December, and the Senate is expected to include SAFER funding in its version of this emergency bill. The total proposed for SAFER funding would therefore rise to $805 million between the emergency spending and the regular FY 2011 appropriation process, the IAFF said.

The president's budget proposal now goes to Capitol Hill, where Congress is likely to change funding levels for many of the programs, it added. Historically, Congress has approved more for AFG and SAFER than the president proposed, and the IAFF said it will be working with its allies in the House and Senate Appropriations Committee to increase the funding levels for these programs.

"We treat the president's proposal as a baseline," IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger said. "Our job is now to make the case to congressional appropriators why we need even more money than the White House recommends."

The proposed budget also earmarks $28 million for Urban Search and Rescue and $45.93 million for the United States Fire Administration.

Billy Goldfeder said while presidents' budget request proposals are typically lower than what Congress eventually passes, the fire service should not be complacent.

"This is no time for the fire service to assume this will happen again," he wrote in TheSecretList. "Don't hesitate to reach out to your federally elected officials to express your concern."

This year, the budget does not contain a specific funding request for Citizen Corps, a program that brings together government and community leaders to involve citizens in all-hazards emergency preparedness and resilience.

The Fire Corps program, a partner program under Citizen Corps that is administered by the NVFC, helps local fire and EMS agencies build capacity by connecting them to community volunteers who can assist in a variety of non-emergency roles.

But under the president's FY 2011 budget request, Citizen Corps would be eligible to receive funding through DHS' State Homeland Security Grant program, which would receive $1.05 billion.

"The president's budget request is the first step in the appropriations process," said NVFC Chairman Philip C. Stittleburg. "As we do every year, the NVFC will work closely with our allies on Capitol Hill to ensure that crucial programs that fund emergency services activities receive adequate funding."

The Congressional Fire Services Institute also said it will continue to work with members of Congress on fire service grant funding.