Page 27 - InCommand Volume 36

FY 2022 Appropriations
The House also has begun working on the FY
2022 appropriations bills. The House Appropriations Committee release its FY 2022 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations bill (H.R. 4431) on July 15. The chart below shows the House’s proposed funding levels:
H.R. 4431 would allow the FEMA Administrator to waive the following requirements to the SAFER grants:
• The local cost-share.
• The three-year performance period.
• The requirement that SAFER funds not supplant
local funds.
• The requirement that the recipient fire department
maintain its budget at 80% of the average funding over the past three years.
In addition, the FEMA Administrator also would
be authorized to allow fire departments to retain and re-hire firefighters as part of the SAFER program. For the AFG program, the FEMA Administrator would be allowed to waive the local match requirement and the maintenance of expenditures requirements (preventing a fire department’s budget from being reduced to not less than 80% of the average amount of such expenditures in the preceding two fiscal years).
The House also proposed $2.5 million for the National Firefighter Registry for cancer research and $6.5 million for the SIREN grant program for rural EMS program in its FY 2022 Labor/Health and Human Services Appropriations bill (H.R. 4502).
It also included an increase to fund the Volunteer
Fire Assistance program at $20 million in Interior/ Environment Appropriations bill (H.R. 4372). The House passed a legislative package that consolidated H.R. 4372 and H.R. 4502 on July 29. The DHS Appropriations bill (H.R. 4431) may not be considered until September. The Senate has yet to release any FY 2022 appropriations bills.
As you can see, Congress will have a busy fall. It will have to pass the FY 2022 annual appropriations bills before October 1 or pass a continuing resolution to keep the federal government open. Also, it will have
to pass the $1 trillion surface transportation bill and the larger reconciliation bill. We will continue to fight for fire service programs in these bills. You can keep updated about what is new in Washington at www.iafc. org/gr.
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021 • www.ohiofirechiefs.org I n C o m m a n d 27