In its very last act of legislative business for 2017, the U.S. Senate voted unanimously to pass legislation to reauthorize the Assistance to Firefighters (AFG) and Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant programs.
The bill authorizes the two programs at $750 million each – making $1.5 billion available teach year for staffing, training and equipment for the departments where IAFF members work over the next six years.
The IAFF has been working with its friends in Congress for nearly two years to reauthorize AFG and SAFER, which were due to expire on January 2, 2018. AFG and SAFER are critical resources for fire departments in every state. We are proud to have been able to win reauthorization for both programs and will work in the coming years to pull out the sunset provision.
