The Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) and Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant programs provide direct assistance to local fire and EMS agencies to help them purchase equipment, training, and apparatus, as well as recruit and retain career and volunteer personnel. AFG and SAFER were funded at $360 million in FY 2023.  The House FY 2024 Homeland Security appropriations bill would fund these programs at $370 million and the Senate bill would fund these programs at $338 million. This decrease in funding is unacceptable.

Additionally, the AFG and SAFER programs are scheduled to be shut down at the end of FY2024. In April, the Senate passed S. 870 to reauthorize these programs and the U.S. Fire Administration through 2030 by a vote of 95 to 2.  Please use this action alert to tell your Senators and Representative to fund AFG and SAFER at a minimum of the $370 million contained within the House's FY 2024 Homeland Security appropriations bill and reauthorize these programs as soon as possible.