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Governmetal Affairs Committee |
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GAC Resources
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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The FAMA / FEMSA GAC would like to thank all the members who participated in the 2006 Home Day Program. Many of you had incredible results, and we encourage you to share those experiences with your fellow members. The GAC has posted a small website with information about some of the Home Day activities by FAMA and FEMSA member companies. Remember - Every Day is Home Day! Please click here to see the site.
Upcoming Events
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REMINDER: Your Assistance is Needed Americans Unprepared for Disaster, Poll Finds NFPA 1901 ROP and draft available Break up Homeland Security Department, Senator Says Chief Greg Cade Confirmed As U.S. Fire Administrator The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security marked up the FY2008 Homeland Security appropriations bill last Friday, May 18. The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security marked up the FY2008 Homeland Security appropriations bill last Friday, May 18. The subcommittee approved $570 million in funds for the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) Program, $270 million more than the president’s request of $300 million and a 4% increase over the current FY07 funding level of $547 million. The Homeland Security appropriations subcommittee approved $230 million for the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Program, continuing to fund a program that the White House requested be cut. This FY08 appropriation doubles funding from the FY07 level of $115 million. Under the markup, the United States Fire Administration would receive $43 million in FY08, matching the president’s budget request and decreasing funding slightly from $47 million in FY07. The bill now goes to the full appropriations committee for consideration.
Source: Development Initiatives, Inc. REMINDER: Your Assistance is Needed On behalf of the FAMA/FEMSA GAC, this will serve as a reminder to contact your legislators asking for their support of the Hometown Heroes Survivors Benefit Act. An update from Sean Carroll of the CFSI follows. See also attached to assist you in this request. Thank you, Karen H. Burnham All, To Download click here: Hometown Heroes Letter to Bush Source: CFSI Americans Unprepared for Disaster, Poll Finds Almost half of Americans say they haven’t taken the most basic of steps to prepare themselves for natural disaster, even though government forecasters are predicting this summer will see more hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfire than normal. Not only that, the same poll found many people don’t have confidence in the federal government to help them if disaster does strike. In an article in USA TODAY, writer Brad Heath says the USA TODAY/Gallup Poll found 41 percent of respondents do not have a stockpile of food and water, and 27 percent don’t have an extra supply of medicine. The poll also found 40 percent of people have not chosen someone in their family to contact in the event of disaster, and 18 percent do not even own a first aid kit. FEMA Director David Paulison told Heath when people and families are not prepared, it puts far too much stress on emergency management systems across the country. Emergency officials are forced to deliver food, ice, water and supplies to people who could have stored their own. “We probably need to step back to where we were a few years ago and depend more on ourselves and less on the government,” Robert Palestrant, director of Miami-Dade County's Office of Emergency Management, told Heath. “People have this expectation that my power’s out, so somebody should give me cold water.” But the poll also found about two-thirds of Americans don’t think the federal government is ready to deal with a natural disaster in their neighborhoods; about two-thirds think their local police and fire departments are ready. To read the full article, click here: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-05-09-emergencies_N.htm Source: Disaster Resource Guide NFPA 1901 ROP and draft available NFPA has posted the Report on Proposals and draft for the next edition of NFPA 1901 on the 1901 document web page. It is at http://www.nfpa.org/aboutthecodes/AboutTheCodes.asp?DocNum=1901. Under the “Revision Cycle Information” is a hot link titled “Download the Report on Proposals.” Further down on the page is a hot link titled “NFPA 1901 A2008 ROP Draft.” When downloading the ROP, the first 8 pages are boiler plate information but also contain a comment form. Please note that the comment closing date is August 31, 2007. Person looking for the printed book or the CD will have to wait until about June 22 as those do not get produced until all the committee reports for the Annual 2008 cycle are finished.
The document web page has a feature that allows a person to sign up for automatic notification whenever the page changes. Use the “Alert me” button in the upper left of the page. Source: NFPA Break up Homeland Security Department, Senator Says Senator Charles Schumer is speaking out about the Department of Homeland Security, calling for the department to be broken up after what he calls continuing incompetence. The Associated Press’ Devlin Barrett is reporting Schumer, a New York Senator who also heads the Senate Democrats’ campaign committee, is trying to dissolve the DHS over the department’s plan to require passports to drive across the Canadian border. “I would be for breaking it up and it’s something we’re going to talk about,” Schumer told Barrett. “It’s a mess. There’s no focus, it’s a conglomerate and it’s too large.” Schumer says he is trying to convince the Democrats to dissolve the DHS into smaller agencies. Barrett says Schumer is particularly concerned about the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, or WHTI, which Schumer says is far from becoming a reality. “There is no way that this thing is going to be implemented for a long period of time,” the senator told a group of New York business leaders, blaming the problem on systemic incompetence in the department. “You can have both security and commerce if you have one other ingredient, and that’s competence. The incompetence of the homeland security department drives me crazy.” To read the full article, click here: http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--homelandsecurity-0510may10,0,917666.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork Source: Disaster Resource Guide Senators Introduce Bi-partisan Volunteer Responder Incentive Protection Act On May 23, Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Gordon Smith (R-OR) introduced S. 1466, the Volunteer Responder Incentive Protection Act. The bill would prohibit the federal government from taxing benefits provided to volunteer fire and emergency medical services personnel by local and state units of government. Congressman John Larson (D-CT) introduced H.R. 943, an identical version of the Volunteer Responder Incentive Protection Act, in the House of Representatives on February 8. “Volunteer firefighters save municipal, county, and state government tax payers more than $37 billion every year,” said NVFC Chairman Philip C. Stittleburg. “In order to retain and recruit volunteers, many local and state governments across the country provide them with modest benefits. When the federal government taxes these benefits, it diminishes, and in some cases eliminates, the incentive they were designed to create.” There are a wide range of benefits that can be provided to volunteers including pay-per-call, reimbursement for expenses, tax breaks, and pension-like plans called length of service awards. Many communities provide non-financial benefits like health club memberships or awards banquets that technically are taxable. The purpose of these benefits is to reward volunteer responders for their service and give them an incentive to be a member of their local volunteer department. The NVFC sent a letter of support, along with the Congressional Fire Services Institute (CFSI), the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), and the National Association of Towns and Townships (NATaT). In November 2006, the National Advisory Committee of CFSI adopted, without objection, a resolution introduced by the NVFC and the IAFC supporting the Volunteer Responder Incentive Protection Act. The NVFC and NATaT signed a memorandum of understanding in September 2006 to work together on issues of mutual interest. “I’d like to thank Senators Dodd and Smith for introducing this important legislation,” said Stittleburg. “S. 1466 provides immediate tax relief to hundreds of thousands of volunteer firefighters and EMS personnel. It also creates a tax climate that doesn’t discourage communities from providing their volunteers incentives.” Gaps in the tax code make taxation of volunteer benefits extremely complicated. Sometimes the sheer amount of paperwork involved in complying with the code makes providing benefits more trouble than it is worth. With passage of S. 1466, the NVFC expects that more communities will see providing incentives as a viable option. S. 1466 was referred to the Senate Finance Committee. The NVFC urges you to contact your Senators and ask them to cosponsor S. 1466. Source: NVFC As Congress heads into a week-long Memorial Day recess (May 28-June 1), the NAM has prepared a “Memorial Day Recess Alert” focusing on three key manufacturing issues likely to see action in June: private ballots for union elections, energy/price controls and must-pass free trade agreements. The document will be available tomorrow morning, May 25, at www.nam.org/recess. NAM members are encouraged to contact their representatives and senators about these topics. For information, contact Nicholas Morse at (202) 637-3047. Source: NAM Chief Greg Cade Confirmed As U.S. Fire Administrator Fairfax, Va., May 25, 2007...Today, the U.S. Senate voted unanimously to confirm the nomination of Chief Gregory B. Cade to serve as U.S. Fire Administrator. “Chief Cade is an experienced fire-service leader dedicated to improving the safety ofAmerica’s firefighters,” said IAFC President Chief Jim Harmes. “The IAFC endorsed ChiefCade’s nomination and looks forward to working with him in his new capacity at the U.S. Fire Administration.” President Bush nominated Chief Cade on December 5, 2006, and the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee reported his nomination favorably to the full Senate on April 18, 2007. Cade succeeds former U.S. Fire Administrator and current FEMA Administrator, Chief R. David Paulison. Paulison was IAFC president from 1996-1997. Source: IAFC |
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