News
President's FY 2008 Budget Would Slash First Responder Funding By $1 Billion
On February 5, the Bush administration announced the President�s budget request for Fiscal Year (FY) 2008. The request for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) calls for a reduction of approximately $1 billion to first responder grant programs, including a $247 million reduction to the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program and elimination of the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) program. Other DHS grant programs that would receive major reductions include State Homeland Security Grants ($322 million), Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention ($101 million), the Urban Area Security Initiative ($147 million), and State and Local Training ($116 million)."I am extremely disappointed in the President's budget request for DHS," said NVFC Chairman Philip C. Stittleburg. "These grant programs provide vital resources to bring first responder organizations up to a baseline level of readiness as well as prepare those organizations to respond to a terrorist attack or other significant incident."
AFG and SAFER are different from the other programs that DHS administers in that they are not allocated based on risk but rather through a competitive grant process that involves peer review by members of the fire and emergency services. In addition, funding goes directly to local departments rather than being filtered through various units of government. AFG provides fire departments and some non-fire service EMS organizations with funding for apparatus, equipment, training, and public education activities. SAFER provides funding to add paid staff and for retention and recruitment of volunteer firefighters.
Under the President's request, funding for the United States Fire Administration (USFA) would increase by nearly two million dollars to $43.3 million. 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 Citizen Corps program, which helps fund programs such as Fire Corps, Medical Reserve Corps (MRC), USAonWatch/Neighborhood Watch, Volunteers in Police Service (VIPS), and Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) across the nation, would again receive $15 million in FY 2008 under the President�s plan. Fire Corps is a program designed to recruit citizens to volunteer for their fire/EMS departments in a non-operational capacity.
The President's budget would also fund a $1 billion public safety communications interoperability grant program that was originally appropriated in 2006. The funding is contingent on proceeds from the sale of radio spectrum in the 700 MHz band, which is not scheduled to take place until 2009. The President's plan would allow the federal government to fund the grant program before the spectrum sale.
The annual release of the President's budget is the first step in the process of appropriating federal funding. Next, Congress will attempt to pass a budget and, after that, appropriations bills that actually allocate funding. Traditionally, Congress has provided higher levels of funding for DHS first responder grant programs than the President has requested.
"We've got a long road ahead of us," said Stittleburg. "Because these grant programs are so important to the viability of volunteer first responder organizations, the NVFC will work closely with our allies in Congress to ensure that they receive an adequate level of funding."
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Kimberly Ettinger
Director of Communications
202-887-5700 ext. 19
David Finger
Director of Government Relations
202-887-5700 ext. 12