Congress Approves Year-End Spending Bill
Public Safety Grant News – Congressional Fire Services Institute
On Saturday, December 17, the Senate approved H.R. 2055, a $915 billion spending package for Fiscal Year 2012. The bill, which includes funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), was approved by the House on December 16.
The spending measure makes significant cuts to DHS, funding the department at $39.4 billion, a decrease of $2 billion from FY11 and $8.6 billion less than was requested by the Obama Administration. The Assistance to Firefighters (FIRE) Grant Program and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Grant Program are funded at $337.5 million each, down from $405 million each in FY11.
FIRE and SAFER were not the only grant programs to be significantly cut in the bill. H.R. 2055 creates a funding pool of $1.35 billion for a dozen grant programs, including the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) and the State Homeland Security Grant Program (SHGP). These programs will be funded at the discretion of the Secretary of Homeland Security.
The United States Fire Administration is funded at $44.038 million, down $1.5 million from FY11.
The bill now goes to President Obama for his signature.