IAFF Scores Huge Congressional Victory

December 17, 2011 – In one of its final actions in 2011, Congress has passed an Omnibus Appropriations Bill that makes more than $742 million in Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grants available to struggling communities and extends the “SAFER waivers” for Fiscal Years 2011 and 2012. The waivers ensure that fire departments can use SAFER grants to rehire and retain fire fighters, in addition to hiring additional personnel.

“This is a significant victory for IAFF affiliates across the nation, because it will provide substantial funding to hire, rehire and retain fire fighters and paramedics," says IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger. "This funding will improve public safety and translate into thousands of jobs.”

Public safety in communities across the United States has been put at risk, as fire fighter and paramedic positions have been lost, targeted for elimination or left unfilled after a vacancy due to funding shortages as the prolonged economic downturn has decimated local tax revenue. But passage of the 2012 Omnibus Appropriations Bill enables communities to reverse that dangerous trend, with grants providing funding for as many as 7,000 fire fighter and paramedic positions.

“Our affiliates in towns and cities that are facing budget problems need to push their public officials and elected leaders to apply for this money when the grant period opens, and the IAFF stands ready to help prepare grant applications,” Schaitberger says.

The Appropriations Bill includes $337.5 million for Fiscal Year 2012 for the SAFER grant program. More importantly, it preserves rules allowing communities to use the grants to hire fire fighters and keep fire fighters on the job where budgets are tight. The bill also allows communities to use $405 million in SAFER grants for Fiscal Year 2011 – money that was previously approved – to hire, rehire or retain fire fighters. Fiscal 2011 SAFER funding had been on hold until Congress clarified that the grants could be used to hire, rehire and retain fire fighters. This week, President Schaitberger met with senior Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) officials, who confirmed that they plan to open the grant period in January and expect money to hit the street by the end of March.

“A majority of lawmakers in Washington have shown they understand that public safety at the local level is the frontline of homeland security. The SAFER grant program improves public safety and creates jobs in these tough economic times – it’s a win-win,” says Schaitberger.

Representative Tom Latham (R-IA), an Appropriations Committee member and subcommittee chair - as well as a longtime supporter of both SAFER and Assistance to Firefighters (FIRE Act) grants - emerged as a champion on the issue. He personally lobbied GOP leadership and Appropriations Chair Harold Rogers (R-KY) to include “waiver authority” in the final omnibus appropriations.

In the Senate, Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) worked with Appropriations Committee Chair Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI) to promote the IAFF’s interests and ensure that waiver authority would be included in the omnibus.

Administered through FEMA, the SAFER program to date has put more than 5,000 fire fighters back to work, giving a much-needed boost to public safety in countless struggling communities.

“Staffing shortages are a direct threat to public safety," says Schaitberger. "Closing fire companies and fire stations to compensate for staffing shortages aggravates the problem, putting residents, businesses and fire fighters in even greater danger. Public safety is a cornerstone of small business security in communities across the country, and I urge municipal leaders everywhere to work closely with local fire fighters to secure SAFER grants to make neighborhoods safer and more capable of growth once again.”