Congress makes cuts to AFC/SAFER funding; other programs fare better

By Gary Giacomo

To avoid a partial government shutdown in late March, Congressional leaders negotiated a compromise on a spending measure that the President signed into law. Although the fiscal year 2024 minibus funding package includes $61.8 billion in funding for the Department of Homeland Security, fire service-related grants faced cuts. The legislation calls for a 10 percent cut to fiscal year (FY) 2024 AFG and SAFER funding and significant cuts to other FEMA grant programs. These cuts will reduce funding for both Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG) and Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) national FEMA-funded grant programs by $36 million, from $360 million in FY2023 to $324 million in FY2024.

Despite cuts to these two popular firefighting grant programs, there were a few bright spots in the budget package. These were:

• • 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 in March, the President signed into law a separate minibus appropriations package that included funding for other public safety programs:
  • 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 fire service needs to remain vigilant in making members of Congress aware of the vital importance of the U.S. Fire Administration and the AFG, SAFER and other grant programs. Contact your local member of Congress, and be sure you relate to them how federal grant funding brings needed training and other resources to your communities.