IAFC DISPUTES ARTICLE REGARDING FIRE ACT GRANT TESTIMONY

From Fire fighter close calls

I think like many of you, we have seen the below article in Firehouse.com this afternoon that gave us, some very serious concern.
THIS IS PART OF WHAT WAS PUBLISHED ON FIREHOUSE.COM:
"The neediest fire companies across the country would be all but eliminated from receiving fire grants under a proposal penned by several major fire service organizations.
If approved, the match for departments serving populations of 20,000 or fewer would jump from 5 to 15 percent, while those with populations between 20,000 to 50,000 would be 15 percent, up 5 percent from what they pay now.
The largest departments, however, would see a 5 percent decline in the funds they would have to promise. Right now, it's 20 percent, but their share would be just 15 percent.
The proposal by the IAFF, IAFC, NFPA and CFSI surfaced Wednesday during a House subcommittee hearing on the Fire Act grant program reauthorization.
The NVFC was not consulted, and other groups including the International Association of Arson Investigators did not sign off on the 15 percent proposal. "
TO BE CLEAR: The IAFC absolutely denies what was published as being accurate and they have countered with a response (below). The IAFC is requesting an immediate correction from Firehouse.com.
THIS IS PART OF WHAT THE IAFC HAS IMMEDIATELY RESPONDED WITH:
"This morning, Firehouse.com released an article that erroneously indicated that the IAFC supports raising the FIRE grant program’s local match for smaller departments.  The IAFC does not support raising the match for jurisdictions serving smaller populations. (The entire IAFC response is shown below, scroll down)
HERE is the entire article from Firehouse.com
http://cms.firehouse.com/content/article/article.jsp?sectionId=46&id=64458
HERE is information related to the testimony from the IAFC:
http://www.iafc.org/displayindustryarticle.cfm?articlenbr=39771
(Below is the IAFC STATEMENT regarding Firehouse.com's article being inaccurate)
It is no secret that we are gravely concerned about making sure that both the FIRE ACT GRANTS as well as the SAFER Grants receive full funding, including bringing the FIRE ACT Grants back up to last years funding, as well raising SAFER to the level as is currently proposed. More to follow.
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IAFC MEMBER ALERT-Contact: IAFC Government Relations Department
The IAFC Cites Inaccuracy in Firehouse.com Article on FIRE Grants,
Requests Immediate Correction
Fairfax, Va., July 9, 2009... This morning, Firehouse.com released an article that erroneously indicated that the IAFC supports raising the FIRE grant program’s local match for smaller departments.  The IAFC does not support raising the match for jurisdictions serving smaller populations.
According to the current statute, fire departments with a population of greater than 50,000 have to meet a 20 percent match.  A jurisdiction with 20,000 to 50,000 residents has to meet a 10 percent match, and a jurisdiction with 20,000 or fewer residents only has to meet a 5 percent match. 
The IAFC joined with the IAFF, CFSI and NFPA in support of a proposal to reduce the match for communities of greater than 50,000 from 20 percent to 15 percent.  The IAFC does not support increasing the match for the smaller jurisdictions, and has made that clear in both its testimony before the House Science and Technology Committee and in meetings on Capitol Hill.
The IAFC also has recommended that Congress create a waiver for jurisdictions that cannot meet these local match requirements.  To quote Chief Johnson during yesterday’s hearing before the House Science and Technology Committee, “According to the existing statute, most jurisdictions must meet a 20 percent match, while jurisdictions serving smaller populations must meet matches as low as 5 percent.  Some jurisdictions cannot meet these requirements due to the economic downturn, but still need training or need to replace antiquated equipment.  The IAFC recommends that Congress create the authority for DHS to waive the local match requirement for these needy departments.”
To read Chief Johnson’s written testimony, please go to:
http://www.iafc.org/displayindustryarticle.cfm?articlenbr=39771
The IAFC has asked that Firehouse.com correct its story, and Chief Johnson will talk with the Firehouse.com reporter tomorrow morning to make sure that the IAFC position is accurately understood.