Martin Sabo: “our amendment increases the funding for the fire grant program by $50 million, $25 million for the SAFER program, and…”

“our amendment increases the funding for the fire grant program by $50 million, $25 million for the SAFER program, and $25 million for the regular grant program. With the $25 million added to the SAFER program, it would be funded at $75 million, or $10 million above last year's funding. With the increase to the regular fire grant program, it would be funded at $575 million, unfortunately still a $75 million cut from last year's level. If we had more funding, and more offsets, we would have added it to this program. I might add that whatever the problems are with the larger local grant program, this is a program that has worked very efficiently and effectively. It is a proven successful program, and grant decisions are made on the basis of independent board review. The needs of our fire departments are great, and our Federal funding for the fire grant program has decreased in recent years and, actually, as a population that has grown, the number of firefighters nationwide has fallen. Firefighters still lack basic equipment. The number of firefighters with proper breathing gear and protective clothing has not substantially improved since 9/11. In 2003, Federal fire grant funding was $746 million; this year it is $715 million. This bill, with the amendment, would increase that amount to $650 million. The offset funding for the new personnel system would be decreased by $20 million, but still would have an increase of $17 million, or 47 percent under this mark.…”