Review - S 4882 Introduced – Fire Administration Authorization

 Last month Sen Peters (D,MI) introduced S 4882, the Fire Grants and Safety Act. The bill would extend the authorization for the US Fire Administration through 2030. Three associated grant programs would also be extended. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee took up the bill on September 28^th, and ordered it reported favorably with two amendments.

Moving Forward

With the bill ordered reported favorably, the Senate only needs the HSGAC to publish their report to take up this bill. The bill will not be considered under regular order, but it is very likely to be taken up under the Senate’s unanimous consent process. This is a popular program since it disperses grant funding to local communities.

Related Bill – HR 7077

The HSGAC considered a bill related to S 4882 earlier in August, HR 7077, the Empowering the U.S. Fire Administration Act. That bill would expand the authority of the FA to investigate broadly defined large fires. The House bill was ordered reported favorably without amendment. The bill had passed earlier in the House with a strong bipartisan majority. The Senate Committee Report has not yet been published. That bill is less likely to be considered under the unanimous consent process, but could possibly make it into the final FY 2023 omnibus spending bill or in the NDAA that the Senate is considering this week.

 

For more details about the provisions of the bill, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/s-4882-introduced - subscription required.