President Slashes First Responder
Funding in FY 2009 Budget Request On February 4, the President announced his FY
2009 budget request for funding for the federal government. The
President’s budget slashes funding to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s
State and Local Programs account by more than $1 billion, including a $260 million
cut for the FIRE Grant program, elimination of the SAFER grant program,
and a six percent reduction in funding for the United States Fire
Administration (USFA).
“The
President’s budget is an abrupt and dramatic reduction of federal support
for our nation’s firefighters and EMS personnel,” said National Volunteer
Fire Council (NVFC) Chairman Philip C. Stittleburg. “The safety of first
responders and the communities they serve will suffer if the funding
levels proposed by the President are enacted.”
FIRE
and SAFER provide funding on a competitive basis directly to fire
departments to bring them up to a baseline level of readiness. FIRE
grants provide funding to purchase apparatus, equipment and training while
SAFER grants pay for hiring and recruitment and retention of volunteers.
The President is requesting $300 million for FIRE and nothing for SAFER.
FIRE and SAFER are each authorized at approximately $1 billion and receive
applications requesting more than twice this amount every year. The NVFC
supports full funding for FIRE and SAFER.
The
mission of USFA is to reduce life and economic losses due to fire and
related emergencies by providing training and coordination and performing
research. The long-term health of USFA and its National Fire Academy are
critical to the fire service. The President’s request of $41 million for
USFA is a reduction of $2.3 million and more than $25 million less than
authorized by Congress. Additionally, the President proposes to fund USFA
in a manner that would allow FEMA to transfer funds between USFA and other
accounts without notifying Congress. The NVFC supports full funding for
USFA and opposes allowing the administration to reprogram USFA funding for
other purposes.
The
President’s funding request includes $15 million for the Citizen Corps
program, which supports Fire Corps, Medical Reserve Corps, Neighborhood
Watch, Volunteers In Police Service and Community Emergency Response Teams.
Fire Corps is a program administered by the NVFC that is designed to
recruit citizens to volunteer for their fire/EMS departments in a
non-operational capacity.
More
information about the President’s budget request can be found on the
Office of Management and Budget’s web site. The budget request is just the
first step in the process of making funds available for federal activities
and programs. Ultimately, Congress will determine how to appropriate
federal funding and the NVFC will work closely with our allies in the
House and Senate, as we do every year, to ensure that programs providing
assistance to the volunteer fire service receive adequate funding.
Andy
Pilecki