The U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelming June 1 to restore a portion of the funds that had been slashed from the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) and Assistance to Firefighters (FIRE Act) grant programs.

As originally written, the Homeland Security Appropriation bill funded the fire service grant programs at $350 million, a cut of nearly 60% from the current funding level. An amendment offered by Reps. Steve LaTourette (R-Ohio) and Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) brought the funding levels for the two programs up to $670 million.



The LaTourette-Pascrell amendment was adopted by a vote of 333-87, with every Democrat and a strong majority of Republicans voting for the bill.

Congress is still considering the Homeland Security Appropriation and a second important fire service amendment will be voted on this afternoon. Rep. David Price (D-N.C.) has offered an amendment to extend the waivers for the SAFER program, which enable SAFER grants to be used to bring back laid off fire fighters or prevent layoffs. Without these waivers, which were first enacted in 2009 but have since expired, SAFER grants can only be used for adding new, additional fire fighters.