What had been a trickle of Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) funding finally is turning into a steady stream.

The fifth and sixth rounds of funding released May 21 and May 28 by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have brought another wave of grants to departments that have had to lay off fire fighters because the recession continues to wreak havoc on the budgets of the municipalities that employ you.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) released $27.2 million in the eight days from May 21 to May 28, and $108 million in the two months since March 31.

But I know many of you who have been burned by this recession are still waiting for help. I can say confidently that much more help is on the way very soon. Because of our efforts on your behalf, FEMA has prioritized the grants appropriately, and this crucial funding is getting to departments that have had layoffs.

By our estimate, the grants have restored an estimated 1,000 jobs for the men and women on the frontlines so far. From California to Maine, departments in 29 states have received a grant through the SAFER program.

Not every department that needs funding has received a SAFER grant, and the sad truth is that this economy has pushed demand far beyond the supply of funds.

But we have made a significant difference, and much more help is on the way. The grants FEMA is distributing now are fulfilling the $210 million available to us in Fiscal Year 2009. Another $420 million has been appropriated for Fiscal Year 2010 and will be available under the new guidelines we negotiated. The grants available to us in Fiscal Year 2010 will restore another 3,400 jobs.

If we hadn’t inserted ourselves so forcefully into the process, it’s safe to say that things would look very different today. I am confident we have prevented unnecessary spending on new hires and ensured that these crucial grants are used to restore jobs and preserve public safety. Funding new positions may be acceptable during an economic boom, but in this desperate economic climate it was important for us to embrace a new strategy.

The distribution of these crucial SAFER grants and the restoration of so many of your jobs illustrates that our new strategy is working. It also illustrates the importance of our political action efforts.

We’re seeing what happens when we get involved in elections and have a president in the White House who doesn’t treat labor like an enemy.

We’re seeing what happens when a friendly administration is in charge and appoints our allies to agencies that matter to us. We could ask for no better person in charge at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security than Secretary Janet Napolitano.

Under Secretary Napolitano’s leadership, DHS accepted our recommendations for amending the SAFER rules in order to direct grant funds to fire departments so they can rehire fire fighters who have been laid off and restore positions that are not being filled as a result of the current financial crisis. The secretary also helped us by delaying the 2009 application process to ensure that the $210 million that Congress appropriated for SAFER for Fiscal Year 2009 would be available under the new guidelines.

And when the SAFER process failed us in the first round of funding — because grants weren’t being directed to departments with layoffs — we were able to get an audience with FEMA. We raised awareness about bureaucratic problems and successfully made our case for significant changes in the awards process.

We would not have succeeded without the presence of friends, and I can’t emphasize it enough — we are benefiting from our political action.

Political action is allowing us to weather this economic storm. It is extending a lifeline to fire departments hard hit by the recession.

It has taken our members from the unemployment line to the frontlines.

I’d hate to think where we would be without these SAFER grants.

And I’d hate to think where we’d be without an aggressive political action plan.

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