STEVE AUSTIN
Just when you thought is was safe to get back in the water the bureaucrats in the Office of Management and Budget have unleashed another blow below the belt to the fire service. You remember OMB. OMB is the federal agency in the White House who among other things produces the President's budget. These are the folks who eliminated funding for the Fire Act in a fledging President Bush's first budget just one short year ago.
Then it took the Congressional Fire Service Caucus led by Founder Curt Weldon to, shall we say, "convince" OMB how dumb it was politically to eliminate grants to fire departments. Budget Director Mitch Daniels profusely apologized and with the intervention of FEMA Director Joe Allbaugh who spoke directly with the President of the United States, funding was restored within days.
At a briefing at the Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute just days ago Allbaugh went on the record opposing merging the Fire Grant Program with the $3.5 Billion first responder Homeland Defense funding in the federal budget year that begins October 1, 2002.
Apparently the rational for this move is more efficiency by merging these seemingly similar programs. This kind of reasoning has bureaucrat written all over it. That's unfortunate because Joe Allbaugh worked very hard with Governor Tom Ridge the new Homeland Defense Chief to put together a long overdue package of real money. The proposed $3.5 Billon will get first responders on track to be better prepared for the potential of future attacks on America.
The Fire Grant Program, established by Congress, provides competitive grants to meet the crucial needs of the thousands of under funded fire departments in this nation. While this year's funding level has been increased substantially, it is significantly less than the $3.5 billion proposed for domestic preparedness. Additionally, Homeland Defense funds will be split between fire, ems and some law enforcement departments and all money will come through state government. The funds are solely intended for anti terrorism efforts.
We shouldn't "mix apples and oranges" said FEMA Director Allbaugh when he announced that a trial balloon had been launched by unnamed persons combining the programs.
Most Washington fire insiders and apparently a growing number of members of Congress are finding out quickly that the latest OMB gaff could cripple the Fire Grant Program by having it absorbed in to a much larger Homeland Defense program designed to be spent on other responders as well as fire departments.
In government when a smaller program is absorbed by a larger one it is analogous to a big fish swallowing a smaller one in the ocean. The little fish is never seen or heard from again. Suspicions are that certain people at OMB still are opposed to the notion that the federal government has a role in funding fire departments. Combining the programs is a step toward making fire grants go away.
It is time to get America's Fire Service and the Congressional Fire Caucus engaged again. The message is simple. OMB leave our fire grant program as is and allow FEMA to create a separate office to administer the proposed Homeland Defense Funds.
It's also time to stop the OMB bureaucrats who, for the second time, risk embarrassing a popular President and his FEMA Director that are working hard on behalf of firefighters.
