News

CFSI and NFFF Accepting Nominations for the Senator Paul S. Sarbanes Fire Service Safety Leadership Award: Award Recognizes Organizations for Advancing Firefighter Health and Safety

Starting today, the Congressional Fire Services Institute (CFSI) and National Fallen Firefighters Foundation will be accepting nominations for the CFSI/NFFF Senator Paul S. Sarbanes Fire Service Safety Leadership Award. The deadline for submissions is December 6, 2019.

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Nominations for Fire Service Leadership Award: CFSI/Motorola Solutions Mason Lankford Fire Service Leadership Award Recognizes Individual Leadership

The Congressional Fire Services Institute (CFSI) is now accepting nominations for the 2020 CFSI/Motorola Solutions Mason Lankford Fire Service Leadership Award. Sponsored jointly by CFSI and Motorola Solutions, the award recognizes individual leadership in advancing fire and life safety initiatives. The award presentation will take place on April 30, 2020, at the 32nd Annual National Fire and Emergency Services Dinner in Washington, DC.

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Fiscal Year 2020 Appropriations Update

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.

House Approves Stopgap Spending Measure; Senate to Act on Measure Next Week to Avoid Government Shutdown

On September 19th, the House voted on a measure to fund the government through November 21st. The continuing resolution was approved 301 to 123. The Senate is expected to approve the measure next week. With only ten days remaining in Fiscal Year 2019, the two chambers need to approve the stopgap measure to avoid a government shutdown.
To date, the House has approved ten of 12 appropriations bills. The two bills that still require approval are the Legislative Branch and Homeland Security appropriation measures. On the other hand, the full Senate has yet to act on any of the 12 measures, although the Senate Appropriations Committee has completed work on five spending bills.
A continuing resolution, or “CR”, is a spending measure that allows Congress to fund the federal government for a limited amount of time. Congress resorts to them to allow more time to enact appropriation bills to fund the federal government for the full fiscal year. Among the drawbacks, a CR continues the pre-existing appropriations at the same levels as the previous fiscal year and restricts the implementation of new federal programs.

House Approves Portable Fuel Container Safety Act, CO Poisoning Prevention Act

On September 17th, the House approved two important pieces of public safety legislation: H.R. 806, the Portable Fuel Container Safety Act and H.R. 1618, the Nicholas and Zachary Burt Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Prevention Act.  
H.R. 806, introduced by Congressman Mike Thompson (CA-5), directs the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to require the addition of flame mitigation devices to consumer-grade portable fuel containers. H.R. 1618, introduced by Congresswoman Ann Kuster (NH-2), directs CPSC to establish a federal grant program to assist states in carrying out carbon monoxide detector installation and education programs.  Both bills were approved by voice vote. The two bills will now be sent to the Senate for consideration.

Senate Votes to Reauthorize September 11th Victim Compensation Fund

On Tuesday, July 23rd, the Senate approved H.R. 1327, the Never Forget The Heroes: James Zadroga, Ray Pfeifer, And Luis Alvarez Permanent Authorization of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund Act by a vote of 97-2.  The legislation fully funds and permanently reauthorizes the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund.  The House overwhelmingly approved the bill on July 12th with a vote of 402-12.  

The bill will now be sent to the White House for the President’s signature.