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Governmental Affairs Committee |
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GAC Resources For GAC documents, announcements, and information please click here to visit the microsite. Home Day 2007 Toolkit To download the Home Day 2007 Click Here Upcoming Events
HELP THE GAC!
Dear FAMA/FEMSA member: In January, you received an e-mail from the FAMA/FEMSA Governmental Affairs Committee (GAC) asking you to complete a survey that will help the GAC and its consultants learn what congressional relationships FAMA/FEMSA member companies have established. This information is essential to the GAC’s work to increase FAMA/FEMSA’s dialogue with federal government agencies in an effort to educate key officials on the important role our industry plays in providing equipment and services to the nation’s first responders. To help us enhance these efforts, we once again ask you to take a few moments to complete the enclosed survey. Specifically, this survey will help the GAC compile a comprehensive list of FAMA/FEMSA members’ locations and the congressional senators and representatives for those locations, an important step in establishing an educational network with the members of Congress and the administration. Please note that the survey can be conveniently completed online here. We also ask that the survey be completed as soon as possible. We have tried to keep this survey as simple and straightforward as possible. We thank you in advance for your assistance in this important effort. Sincerely, FAMA/FEMSA Governmental Affairs Committee
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PSOB Press Conference, July 11, 12:30pm, Dirksen Bldg, Rm 628
Fire Service Based EMS: The Role of the United States Fire Service in Delivery and Coordination A Busy Week for FEMA Feds Refuse to Add South NJ to Philly’s Security Funds New Mexico Merges Homeland Security and Emergency Management Lawmakers Say NYC is Stiffed Again on Anti-Terror Funds
PSOB Press Conference, July 11, 12:30pm, Dirksen Bldg, Rm 628
Source: FEMSA
Congress Urges President Bush to Fully Implement the Hometown Heroes Survivors Benefit Act On Thursday, June 7th, a bipartisan coalition of 101 members of Congress from both the Senate and the House of Representatives sent a letter to President George W. Bush urging the immediate implementation of the Hometown Heroes Survivors Benefit Act. The legislation, which was unanimously passed by both houses of Congress and signed into law more than three years ago, provides a one-time financial benefit to the survivors of public safety officers who give their lives in the line of duty as a result of a heart attack or stroke. Unfortunately, as of today, the Department of Justice has ruled on only 46 of the 264 claims submitted under the Hometown Heroes provisions of the Public Safety Officers' Benefit (PSOB) program - the department has denied 40 claims.
Prior to the passage of this legislation, an unintended loophole in the PSOB regulations denied the benefit to families of public safety who suffered fatal heart attacks and strokes. The PSOB was created to make sure those individuals who served their communities as public safety officers had the piece of mind that their families would be cared for should they be called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice.
CFSI has been diligently working with our Congressional allies, DOJ staff, the White House, and several of the national fire and emergency services and law enforcement associations to resolve this situation. In 2004, the Institute awarded its Legislator of the Year Award to Congressman Bob Etheridge for sponsoring the Hometown Heroes legislation. To view the Congressional letter to President Bush select this link.
Source: CFSI Fire Service Based EMS: The Role of the United States Fire Service in Delivery and Coordination
Click Here to Download (.pdf)
Source: GAC A Busy Week for FEMA It was anything but a quiet July 4th holiday week for FEMA, as it worked with its federal, tribal, state, and local government partners to coordinate the response to recent severe storms and flooding in Texas, Kansas, and New York. All three states received presidential disaster declarations. In Texas, aid was granted under FEMA’s Individual Assistance Program, with grants to residents to help them pay for temporary housing, home repairs, and other serious disaster-related expenses. Low-interest loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration also were made available. Both Kansas and New York are receiving aid under the Public Assistance Program, which supplements state and local recovery efforts. Under that program, federal funding is available to state and eligible local governments, and certain private non-profit organizations, on a cost-sharing basis. Federal funding also is available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide. Although many think of FEMA only during hurricane season, the agency has been busy all year responding to other disasters such as wildfires, flooding, severe storms, and tornadoes. Since Jan. 1, President Bush has issued 38 major disaster declarations, six emergency declarations, and 22 fire management assistance declarations. Source: DHS Feds Refuse to Add South NJ to Philly’s Security Funds New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez has complained to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff that South Jersey counties should be included in the extra funding Philadelphia gets as a high-threat area. But Chertoff and the DHS aren’t buying the argument. In an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Staff Writer Jennifer Lin says Menendez wrote to Chertoff arguing that emergency managers from those South Jersey communities should also have an equal say in how the Philadelphia region spends the extra $20 million or so. But last week, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) told Menendez the funding stream, as it exists, works fine. “R. David Paulison, the FEMA administrator, said some of the extra funding for Philadelphia was being spent on projects that benefited South Jersey - such as a project to technologically link the communication centers in 11 counties of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware,” Lin says. Last year, Philadelphia and four surrounding Pennsylvania counties received $19.5 million in grants above and beyond the money Pennsylvania was receiving to improve emergency preparedness, Lin reports. And while South Jersey emergency managers are consulted, they are not equal partners in deciding how those funds are disbursed. Menendez argued for the funds on the basis that after a large-scale terrorism attack, South Jersey emergency responders would be among the first on the scene. “But under this system, their share isn’t equal to their responsibility. . . . We aren’t directly given any of those resources to beef up our capabilities,” he told Lin. To read the full article, click here: link
Source: Disaster Resource Guide New Mexico Merges Homeland Security and Emergency Management In an attempt to improve the state’s emergency response capabilities, the New Mexico legislature has combined its office of homeland security and office of emergency management into one unified, cabinet-level agency now known as the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. In an article in the Los Alamos Monitor, Carol A. Clark says the state has combined the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and the Department of Public Safety’s Office of Emergency Management into one unified agency. Gov. Bill Richardson said in a statement that combining the departments of homeland security and emergency management will make New Mexico better prepared and coordinated to respond to natural and man-made disasters. “The Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management will serve as the state’s coordinating agency between state and federal government and the cities and counties of New Mexico for the prevention, preparedness, and response to acts of terrorism and natural disasters,” Clark says. Los Alamos Emergency Management Coordinator Philmont Taylor told Clark that combining the two agencies seems to be a good idea. “I’ve been aware over the last year that this seemed to be the course being set,” Taylor told Clark. “I think it makes sense to have the state’s infrastructure mirror as closely as possible the federal infrastructure. This is just a cleaner organizational structure having everyone under one roof. Time will tell if it’s the best it can be, but right now it makes the most sense.” To read the full article, click here: link
Source: Disaster Resource Guide Lawmakers Say NYC is Stiffed Again on Anti-Terror Funds The Department of Homeland Security is still weeks away from making a formal announcement on this year’s round of anti-terror funding, but members of New York’s Congressional delegation is already fighting back. Has New York been “stiffed” again, or are they worried about nothing? The Associated Press’ Larry McShane is reporting Senator Charles Schumer and Rep. Peter King are up in arms, complaining New York City has fallen short in anti-terror funds. “Why do they persist in giving money to places that need it a lot less than New York City?” Schumer asked. “It’s a disgrace. It’s confounding. ... It’s once again unfair to New York. Our needs are different than any other city.” Both Schumer and King told McShane the city was scheduled to receive about $134 million in funding this year — an increase of about 8 percent over last year, but still $73 million less than the city received two years ago. “Last year, New Yorkers complained long and loud after the Department of Homeland Security slashed anti-terrorism funding for the city by $83 million,” McShane says. “The nation’s largest city lost 40 percent of its funding just five years after the World Trade Center terrorist attacks, while federal money was increased in Louisville, Ky., and Omaha, Neb.” A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security declined comment and said it was unclear when an official announcement of the anti-terrorism grants would occur, McShane reports. To read the full article, click here: link
Source: Disaster Resource Guide
The United States Fire Administration (USFA) has received notice of the following firefighter fatality: Name: Eric Lyons Fire Department: Kennewick Fire Department Incident Description: Eric Lyons had responded to a brush fire during Funeral Arrangements: 07/12/2007, 1300 hours at Three Rivers Convention Apparatus Procession - Agencies participating in the apparatus Memorial Fund Contact and Address: Donations to the family can be made Tribute is being paid to Firefighter Eric Lyons at
Source: USFA The United States Fire Administration (USFA) has received notice of the following firefighter fatality: Name: Michael James Penovich Fire Department: Saratoga Springs Fire Department Incident Description: Fire Chief Michael James Penovich passed away Funeral Arrangements: Viewing 07/12/2007 1800-2000hrs and 07/13/2007 Memorial Fund Contact and Address: A Fire Chief Michael James Penovich Tribute is being paid to Fire Chief Michael James Penovich at Source: USFA |
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FAMA/FEMSA GAC Hill Day - September 27, 2007 - Washington, DC |
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