I will focus my column in an area where I'm most knowledgeable: the legislative process. Even though I've spent seven years tracking fire service legislation, every day is a learning experience. In recent days, I feel like a remedial student who showed up for school one day only to learn that I was transferred unexpectedly to the gifted program. And I find myself surrounded by colleagues as perplexed as I am.
At the core my bemusement and bewilderment is the ongoing appropriations process. Like the 2000 presidential elections, it is full of mystery and suspense. You could call five different lawmakers on Capitol Hill for assessments of the fiscal quagmire and get five different responses. Nobody seems to know how Congress will fund government programs for Fiscal Year 2003. Will it be through the standard appropriation measures or an omnibus proposal? Or will Congress continue to pass continuing resolutions. Time to get out the crystal ball and start rubbing.
Not until Congress selects its fiscal path and approves spending for FY 2003 will we know how much the FIRE Grant program will receive. If you have followed the action taken to date on the FIRE Grant program, you know that the potential for a sizable increase in funding appears positive. Last summer, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee for VA, HUD and other Independent Agencies approved $900 million for the program for Fiscal Year 2003. Earlier this week, its counterpart subcommittee in the House, approved $450 million. Both represent significant increases over the $360 million appropriated in FY 2002. According to sources on Capitol Hill, we can expect a compromise figure between the two chambers somewhere around $600 million. However, this scenario is based on Congress approving the VA, HUD appropriations bill.
To date, Congress hasn't approved a single appropriations measure and there are no clear indications when it will. If agreements on the various measures cannot be reached, Congress may have to resort to other options. They could approve an omnibus measure containing several or all spending bills into on single bill, or a series of continuing resolutions. The least desirable is the latter, which would set spending figures based on current spending limits. There are some questions if CR's would even include funding for grant programs, including the FIRE grants. Fortunately, Congressman Bill Young, Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, casts serious doubts about this approach. "Whoever is talking about a long-term continuing resolution has not thought this through," said Young in a recent interview.
It's safe to assume that we will have a grant program and funding should range anywhere between $450 million and $900 million. However, the question is when will Congress actually approve the funds? If they fail to complete their work by the end of the year and are forced to return in January to wrap-up business, this could push back FEMA's timeline for administering the program.
There are many variables at play, and we will learn the outcome only through the passage of time. Stay tune for more.
