As posted on IAFF.org

In one of its final actions in 2011, Congress has passed an Omnibus Appropriations Bill that makes more than $742 million in Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grants available to struggling communities and extends the “SAFER waivers” for Fiscal Years 2011 and 2012. The waivers ensure that fire departments can use SAFER grants to rehire and retain fire fighters, in addition to hiring additional personnel.

“This is a significant victory for IAFF affiliates across the nation, because it will provide substantial funding to hire, rehire and retain fire fighters and paramedics,” says IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger. “This funding will improve public safety and translate into thousands of jobs.”

Public safety in communities across the United States has been put at risk, as fire fighter and paramedic positions have been lost, targeted for elimination or left unfilled after a vacancy due to funding shortages as the prolonged economic downturn has decimated local tax revenue. But passage of the 2012 Omnibus Appropriations Bill enables communities to reverse that dangerous trend, with grants providing funding for as many as 7,000 fire fighter and paramedic positions.

Read the full article here.