By Ryan Woodward, NVFC Chief of Legislative and Regulatory Affairs
As seen in this letter from the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) and over 30 fire service-related organizations, the two most successful grants to serve the nation’s fire service through the past two decades—the Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG) and Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grants—are in a fight for their existence and that fight has reached a critical point. Before joining the NVFC, I was a staffer on Capitol Hill who helped lead the last effort for AFG and SAFER reauthorization. I can tell you with certainty, this time is different. We need your help in this fight! Every member of the firefighting community needs to tell their Congressional Representative how important these grants are.
Has your fire department or a department you know received much-needed federal funding for training, equipment, or recruitment? Chances are that funding came from an AFG or SAFER grant. The need for this funding can’t be understated. During the past few years AFG and SAFER have received about $1 to $2 billion in requests per program, while annual funding for these programs has been in the range of just $360 million each.
If Congress does not act within the next few months, AFG and SAFER grants will cease to exist. The authorization for the AFG and SAFER grants expired at the end of FY 2023 and they now face a statutory sunset date of September 30, 2024. This is further complicated by 2024 being an election year, which means legislative business in Congress will slow down dramatically after July.
There are active AFG, SAFER, and U.S. Fire Administration reauthorization bills before Congress, the Fire Grants and Safety Act, S.870 in the Senate and H.R.4090 in the House. In April 2023, the Senate passed S. 870 to reauthorize these programs by a vote of 95 to 2. In June 2023, the House Committee on Science Space and Technology passed H.R. 4090. These bills are now held up due to varying procedural snags.
The next deadline for Congress to reach an agreement on Homeland Security funding is March 8. We need to do all we can make sure this agreement contains at least $370 million in FY 2024 funding each for AFG and SAFER, currently the Senate funding proposal is $338 million and the House’s funding proposal is $370 million. We also need to ensure that the reauthorization of AFG, SAFER and the U.S. Fire Administration are included in this funding agreement, so AFG and SAFER don’t shut down in a few months.
Please use this Action Alert to tell your Representative and Senators to properly fund and preserve AFG and SAFER.
Also, please view the Congressional Fire Service Institute’s AFG and SAFER landing page to see more ways you can help save these critical grants.
