On September 26​th​, the Senate voted 82-15 in favor of a House-passed continuing resolution (HR 4378)

that will fund the government through November 21​st​. The measure has been sent to President Trump,

who is expected to sign it.

To date, the House and Senate have not reached agreement on any of the 12 appropriation bills. With

Congress scheduled to go into recess for the next two weeks, they will have only five weeks remaining

upon their return to complete work on Fiscal Year 2020 funding before the November 21​st​ deadline.

The Department of Homeland Security appropriations legislation is of particular interest to the fire

service, as it contains funding for the United States Fire Administration, AFG and SAFER grant programs, and other programs that impact the fire service. Yesterday, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved an FY2020 DHS spending measure that would fund AFG and SAFER at $710 million split evenly, and the United States Fire Administration at $46.84 million. The House Appropriations Committee approved its own measure last June that would fund the two grant programs at $750 million split evenly, while appropriating $47,225 million for the United States Fire Administration.