On the recordFebruary 17, 2011
As Members are aware, H.R. 1 provided no funding in 2011 for firefighter hiring grants, also known as SAFER grants, a reduction of $420 million. Fortunately, yesterday the House resoundingly overturned that ill-advised move and adopted an amendment by Mr. Pascrell to restore the funding. But my colleagues should be aware that funding is only part of the problem with this bill when it comes to the SAFER program. The underlying bill also neglects to maintain provisions enacted in fiscal years 2009 and 2010 that allowed fire departments to use these grants to rehire laid-off firefighters and to prevent others from being laid off in the first place. The law traditionally permits SAFER grants only to hire new staff. That provision makes sense when our economy is booming and local governments are in a position to hire new workers. But when the recovery is still fragile and local budgets are actually contracting and workers are being laid off, FEMA needs the flexibility to use these grants to keep firefighters from being cut off in the first place. After all, the purpose of the SAFER program is to help maintain a safe level of fire staffing across the country. According to the firefighter organizations, over 5,000 firefighter jobs have been lost since 2008, and another 5,200 are currently at risk.
