Letter to The Honorable W. Craig Fugate Administrator Federal Emergency Management Agency

Letter

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer released a letter to the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), W. Craig Fugate, asking the agency to quickly approve Binghamton's request for a waiver that would allow the City to avoid laying off more firefighters. Binghamton was awarded a SAFER grant, which generally requires a city to hire firefighters, but Schumer and Binghamton are pushing for a waiver that would allow the city to use the funding to maintain current staffing and avoid layoffs. The application for this waiver has now been sent to FEMA, and Schumer asked for FEMA to immediately review and approve it.

"The fundamental purposes of the SAFER program is to ensure the safety home and business owners, and granting this waiver will allow the program, and Binghamton, to achieve that goal," said Schumer.

The Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) program supports the hiring of firefighters and the recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters. SAFER grants are administered to enhance the ability of local fire departments to attain and maintain 24-hour staffing and to assure that their communities have adequate protection from fire and fire-related hazards.

Earlier this year the City of Binghamton applied for a SAFER grant with the hopes staving off public safety layoffs due to a tight budget. Under the SAFER program, which is overseen by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and FEMA, a city can use funding from the program to avoid layoffs, but in order to do so they must submit a waiver application which shows that the city has made across the board cuts, which Binghamton has. Currently, Binghamton has applied for the waiver but it has yet to be approved by FEMA. A delay would put the jobs of firefighters and the safety of the people of Binghamton at risk, and today Schumer asked the agency to end the uncertainty and approve the grant without delay.

The Honorable W. Craig Fugate

Administrator

Federal Emergency Management Agency

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

500 C Street, SW

Washington, D.C. 20472

Dear Administrator,

I write today in support of the City of Binghamton's request to waive the supplanting requirement of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency (SAFER) grant program.

As you well know, the national economic downturn has placed significant strain on the budgets of municipalities across the nation and challenged leaders of our states, towns and villages to do more with less. Mayors, County Executives, Supervisors all are faced with the dilemmas of making difficult fiscal decisions, reducing services, and all the while ensuring that the needs and safety of citizens are met. The City of Binghamton, in New York's Broome County has not been immune to these challenges. As the City was forced to tighten its belt and make difficult decisions and the result was an across the board, 5 percent budget cut. All aspects of the City's operations including its public safety sector were impacted, and both its Fire and Police departments were forced to reduce its operational expenses, which are predominantly personnel costs, in their 2011 budget.

The good news is that the City of Binghamton was selected as a recipient of a SAFER grant, which undoubtedly can provide tremendous relief to the fire department, city government and its citizens. The challenge is that in these uncertain economic times, it is difficult to forecast what next year will look like, let alone two years out, once the grant has expired. These difficult cuts to personnel were made in response to the economic downturn, and I fear that if times do not improve the City could face these difficult choices again. This is why a waiver of the supplanting requirement of FEMA's SAFER grant is so critical and badly needed.

Since the City is not planning to rehire those positions that have been eliminated, the wavier will ensure that the existing levels of firefighters can be maintained and better equipped. That over the course of the next two years, residents can rest easy knowing this critical sector won't be at risk for further reductions, and those brave men and women who serve in this capacity will know they have adequate support and backup when they answer calls.

The City of Binghamton submitted an excellent SAFER grant application and should not be penalized because it is not able at this time to supplant those workers. The SAFER grant is intended to ensure adequate staffing of fire and emergency personnel and if the City has this wavier, it will be able to be better equip its firefighters and meet the goals of this grant. I respectfully urge the expeditious approval of the City's request.

Thank you for your consideration. For additional information, please do not hesitate to contact me or my aide, Grant Kerr, in my Washington office at 202.224.6542.

Sincerely,

Charles E. Schumer

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