On June 21, 2018, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the Fiscal Year 2019 Homeland Security spending bill. The legislation appropriates $55.15 billion for programs and activities within the Department of Homeland Security. The Assistance to Firefighters (FIRE) and Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant programs are funded at $700 million, split evenly between the two programs. This is the same amount Congress provided for Fiscal Year 2018 (FY18).
The bill also provides $44 million for the United States Fire Administration (USFA), with an additional $1.5 million for infrastructure improvements at USFA’s Emmitsburg, MD campus. USFA received a total of $44.397 million in funding for FY18. The Urban Search and Rescue System is funded at $35.180 million in the bill, the same level of funding as appropriated for the current fiscal year.