Page 24 - InCommand Volume 36

The Big Picture
Ken LaSala
Director of Government Relations International Association of Fire Chiefs
While progress was made over the summer, there will be important work awaiting your Senators and Representatives in the fall.
1 Includes $100 million in AFG funding from the CARES Act (P.L. 116-136).
2 Includes $100 million in AFG funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (P.L. 117-2).
3 Includes $200 million in SAFER funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (P.L. 117-2).
It has been a busy summer. While the nation continued to face the COVID-19 pandemic, including the more contagious delta variant, Congress continued to work on legislation to address the nation’s infrastructure needs. Congress also began work on the annual Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 appropriations bills. While progress was made over the summer, there will be important work awaiting your Senators and Representatives in the fall.
Infrastructure Legislation
Over the spring and early summer, President Biden, the Senate Democrats, and Senate Republicans tried to negotiate a bipartisan infrastructure bill to improve the nation’s transportation and water systems. Finally, a bipartisan agreement was struck in late July and early August. On August 10, the Senate passed an approximately $1 trillion infrastructure bill.
The bill included an authorization of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s Assistance for Local Emergency Response Training (ALERT) grant program. The IAFC uses ALERT funds to train rural fire departments to respond to rail incidents involving hazardous materials. The bill also included an extra $1 billion for FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program, which funds projects
to mitigate the cost of disasters. It also provided funding for programs
to support lithium battery safety, including $200 million each year for
five years for a program at the U.S. Department of Energy for research, development, and demonstration of electric vehicle battery recycling. In addition, the legislation included increased funding for federal wildland fire programs, including an extra $4 million over five years for the Volunteer Fire Assistance program. The bill also included funding to improve the nation’s cybersecurity defenses, including $1 billion over four years for the State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial cybersecurity grant program located at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The House will have to consider this legislation in the fall.
The Senate also passed a $3.5 trillion budget resolution on August 11. This legislation includes instructions for drafting a reconciliation bill to address President Biden’s policy goals, such as a proposed corporate income tax increase and funding for pre-kindergarten education. Because of Senate rules, this reconciliation bill only requires 51 votes to pass the evenly split Senate (with Vice President Harris casting the deciding vote).
For the reconciliation bill, the IAFC, OFCA, and other fire service organizations are working on several legislative priorities:
24 InCommand OCTOBER/NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021 • www.ohiofirechiefs.org