The measure Congress passed to keep the government open this past weekend resulted in bad and good news for the nation's fire and rescue departments.
Funding was slashed 10 percent for the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program (AFG), the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grant Program (SAFER).
SAFER and AFG programs. They are earmarked to receive #324 million not $360 provided in FY 2023.
But, CFSI officials noted that there were some positives as well:
- USFA: $59.975 M in base funding, a slight increase from FY2023. It appears that USFA also got some additional funding for procurement and construction to support ongoing data projects.
- SIREN: $11.5 M to make awards to rural public and nonprofit fire and EMS agencies as authorized in the Supporting and Improving Rural Emergency Medical Service's Needs (SIREN) Act.
- National Firefighter Registry (NFR): $5.5 M, consistent with prior year funding.
- Grants for carbon monoxide (CO) safety: $2 M to help states purchase and install CO alarms, provide education, and more.
Earlier this month in another spending plan package funding for other vital programs was included such as:
- Housing Health Hazard Grants: $65 M for competitive grants to public housing agencies to evaluate and reduce residential health hazards, including lead-based paint, carbon monoxide, mold, radon, and fire safety.
- PSOB: $174 M for death benefits and $34.8 M for disability and education benefits.
- State Fire Capacity Grants: $76 M, consistent with prior year funding.
- Volunteer Fire Capacity Grants: $21 M, consistent with prior year funding.
The effort to save SAFER and AFG continues. If a bi-partisan measure is not passed, the programs will sunset Sept. 30.
