Excerpts from the riponadvance.com:
U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood and U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos called on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to temporarily expand the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Grant Program to include firefighters already on payroll. Currently, the SAFER program has a requirement that funding be used only to hire new firefighters at the equivalent cost of a first-year firefighter, which normally would assist a station getting up to required staffing levels with fresh talent.
The members also noted that Congress has given FEMA the authority to waive certain FY19 SAFER requirements, as has memoranda provided by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.
“As you consider additional waivers, we encourage you to waive the FY19 SAFER grant spending requirement on new firefighter hires only,” according to their letter.
