President Obama Releases Fiscal Year 2011 Budget
IAFC On Scene: February 1, 2010
This morning, President Obama released his proposed budget for fiscal year 2011. This begins the federal budget process. Congress will now consider this request when writing the federal appropriations bills. These bills should be passed before the beginning of FY 2011, which starts on October 1, 2010.
Here are details about the proposed budget:
| Program |
FY 2010 (In Millions $)
(Enacted by Congress) |
FY 2011 (In Millions $)
(Proposed by the President) |
| U.S. Fire Administration |
45.59 |
45.930 |
| FIRE Grant Program |
390 |
305 |
| SAFER Grant Program |
420 |
305 |
| Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) |
887 |
1,100 |
| State Homeland Security Grant Program (SHSGP) |
950 |
1,050 |
| Urban Search and Rescue Teams |
32.5 |
28 |
| Interoperable Communications Grants |
50 |
0 |
| Emergency Management Performance Grants |
340 |
345 |
| FLAME Fund |
474 |
387 |
| Presidential Wildland Fire Contingency Reserve |
N/A |
357 |
| Rural Fire Assistance |
6 |
3 |
The following points should be considered:
- While the president’s proposal includes a total of $200 million in cuts to the FIRE and SAFER Grant programs, the cut for the FIRE Grant program is not as severe as last year’s proposal. For FY 2010, the president only proposed $170 million for FIRE Grants, which would have been a 70% cut to the program.
- The $1.05 billion for the SHSGP program includes $50 million for Operation Stonegarden, which addresses issues on America’s Southwest Border.
- The $1.1 billion in UASI funds includes $200 million for use in the provision of additional security involved in hosting terror-related trials.
- There is no specific appropriation for the Citizen Corps Grant Program, the Interoperable Communications Grant Program and the Metropolitan Medical Response System. These programs would be considered allowable expenses under the SHSGP program.
- The FLAME Reserve Fund, which the IAFC supports, is proposed to be funded with $96 million at the U.S. Department of Interior and $291 million at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
- The Presidential Wildland Fire Contingency Reserve is a reserve fund to be available after the fully funded, inflation-adjusted 10-year average of suppression costs is exhausted. It includes $75 million from the U.S. Department of Interior and $282 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
- The Department of Interior’s Wildland Fire Management account includes $6.137 million for the renovation or construction of fire facilities, including crew quarters, warehouses, fire caches, dispatch centers, fire stations, engine storage and aviation bases.
- The IAFC is working to determine the funding levels for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Volunteer Fire Assistance program and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Emergency Medical Services, which is located at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
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