BY BOBBY HALTON
British politician Benjamin Disraeli once said, “There are lies and damn lies and statistics.” We need to remember important words like these when we are being subjected to unjust criticism, specifically when one of our most successful institutions is being attacked, as was the case when the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program was recently disparaged by the Heritage Foundation.
The Heritage Foundation, an independent think tank, released a paper that stated the AFG was not effective because it had not lowered the current rate of line-of-duty deaths (LODDs). When a program such as the Assistance to Firefighters Grant is examined through a single issue such as lowering LODDs, you can use statistics to say whatever you want. All you have to do is pick an issue that has remained unresolved or still has significant shortcomings.
When an organization such as the Heritage Foundation makes such statements, it demonstrates that it doesn’t understand the context in which the funding is making a difference. To us in the fire service, it was quickly apparent that the Heritage Foundation doesn’t understand how the AFG has made and is continuing to make a critical difference. Our fire service leadership has to guard against the damage caused by statements made for specific political agendas—statements that, gone unchallenged, can have tremendous repercussions for the fire service.
The general public is led to believe by such statements that the fire service’s use of the AFG monies is wasteful and inefficient. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The most recent proof of our good stewardship is evidenced in legislation known as HR 3791. This is also a tremendously positive event for those of us inside the fire service. The political goals of our associations, including our United States Fire Administration, should be continuously directed at securing greater state, local, and federal funding for all of the programs that support risk reduction and local operational efficiency as expressed in HR 3791. This is not just a political objective but also a moral one: Funding improves safety, period.
Although the Heritage Foundation may have its concerns, I believe today the fire service has something to celebrate in the AFG program. The cause for celebration has to do with the bridges of understanding demonstrated between our collective leadership as to what the AFG and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Act really mean to the entire American fire service. That understanding is expressed in legislation moving through the halls of Congress that will reform and redesign the way the programs provide monies to the American fire service, making these programs more effective, more responsive, and more balanced.
We should all remember that years ago when the AFG program was originally proposed, we were not as unified, we were not as organized, and we were not as well led as we are today. We need to recognize the uniquely nonideological efforts of the excellent leadership we are blessed with today in virtually every major organization; we see it in the compromises and crafting of HR 3791.
Briefly, the most significant changes to the AFG within HR 3791 are the following. HR 3791 proposes to divide the AFG funds equally by providing access: 25% to career, 25% to combination, and 25% to volunteer fire departments, respectively. It also increases from 5 to 10% the amount of funds used for the Fire Prevention and Safety Grant Program and eliminates the matching requirements for those grants. It increases fire prevention and safety grants from 1 million to 1.5 million. It makes 2% of our grants eligible to volunteer and nonfire service-based EMS (Fire Engineering opposes nonfire service-based EMS receiving AFG monies) and allows 3% of our AFG funds be made available to state fire training academies. That leaves 10% open to all types of agencies to compete equally for.
The proposed legislation will reduce the matching requirement for the departments protecting the largest populations from 20% to 10%. The grants preparedness directorate will be able to waive matching requirements for departments that have extreme financial hardships. Grant award amounts have also been adjusted for population sizes. Communities with populations of 2.5 million or more are now eligible for $9 million; those with populations between 1 million and 2.5 million can apply for up to $6 million; those between 500,000 and 1 million can now ask for up to $3 million; and populations between 100,000 and 500,000 are eligible for $2 million.
There are several other interesting proposed changes in this legislation. The legislation introduces Centers of Excellence, which will be comprised of universities and fire departments that are researching specific firefighter health and safety issues. The proposed legislation will allow the purchase of EMS training and authorizes a new fire service needs assessment study.
HR 3791 also addresses SAFER. It allows use of SAFER money to rehire laid-off firefighters and to prevent layoffs. It eliminates the $100,000 cap per firefighter, reduces the matching requirement of SAFER to 20% a year and reduces the length of the SAFER hiring clause from four years to three years.
When it is adopted, this proposed legislation will codify the practice of prioritizing the AFG awards based on the department’s call volume, the risk that that organization is called on to defend, and that jurisdiction’s population. It’s rewarding to see the fire service unified to improve an already excellent program for the good of the whole. Although it is probably still not a perfect system, statistically these changes represent a win for the fire service and a win for America.
