On Thursday, June 6th, the House approved H.R.2217, the Fiscal Year 2014 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, by a vote of 245 to 182. The bill provides funding for several important fire and emergency services programs.
The House measure contains $680 million for the Assistance to Firefighters (FIRE) and Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant programs, split evenly between the two programs ($340 million each). This is an increase of $5 million over Fiscal Year 2013. The bill also includes $44 million for the United States Fire Administration (USFA) and $35.18 million for the Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) System. Both USFA and the US&R were funded at the same levels in Fiscal Year 2013.
The bill will now be sent to Senate for consideration. CFSI will continue to provide updates throughout the appropriations process.