BY BILL MANNING
On February 24th, amid cries from various fire service corners alleging that the National Fire Academy (NFA) was about to sustain heavy budget cuts that would halt course development and possibly even force closing the Academy itself, the International Association of Fire Chiefs convened a summit of the fire service organizations and fire press whose twofold objectives were to determine the truth about the budget and strategize a course for the future of the United States Fire Administration and its NFA.
The budget rumors are just that-rumors. Chief Dave Paulison, USFA Administrator, invited to speak on behalf of the Department of Homeland Security, delivered a budget presentation and fielded questions from both principal participants and press. Paulison demonstrated, in part, that the National Fire Program (NFA) has remained consistently funded for the past four years, 2002-2005, and the NFA will continue to develop and deliver courses-that it’s not one step away from going out of business; that funding for USFA as a whole has been stable from 2003-2005, with an overall increase of $1.6 million projected for 2006; that maintenance of the National Emergency Training Center campus is ongoing; that campus security measures aren’t draining NFA funds; that more funding for NIMS training is expected; and that the USFA is aggressively pursuing expansion of NFA Internet courses based on high fire service demand. Essentially, it’s being funded to 2002 levels.
That’s a relief. Some suspect the USFA budget numbers changed after the fire service battle flags were raised, but Paulison firmly and flatly denies the charge. The fact remains that the NFA and its National Fire Program is not on the precipice waiting to get pushed off.
Not today, anyway. The positive spin only goes so far. While I agree that the fire service needs to be aware of its big-picture gains in Washington over the past five years and that perhaps the Fire Administration’s being spared the radical budget cuts sustained by some other agencies is indeed a cause for celebration, it’s also true that the USFA is poorly positioned in the DHS hierarchy, which is why the “sleeping giant” that is the fire service needs to sleep with one eye open or, better yet, stay awake for good.
Long gone are the days when the USFA was a line item in the federal budget whose monies were authorized and appropriated by Congress, when we had direct access to the political process. Now it is a child who relies totally on the DHS mother. And what Mother gives is totally within her means and at her discretion.
Congress set up the DHS such that it’s the Directorates that are the budget line items-nothing lower in the food chain. In our case, the Emergency and Disaster Response Directorate, which receives a finite congressional appropriation, sits above FEMA, which sits above the USFA, which sits above the National Emergency Training Center and the NFA. The Directorate apportions the pot of money based on needs and goals. Inevitably, unexpected costs arise-a new program required by Presidential directive, for example-without additional appropriations, so you have the infamous budget “takebacks” from discretionary entities, among them FEMA, the USFA, the NFA, and so forth.
Add to this the fact that-get this-within the federal context, the fire service is not considered to be “homeland security-related.” Only 3 percent of everything that falls within and under FEMA is considered by the federal government to be homeland security-related. Homeland security-related programs are untouchable, but any agency or program within the DHS that’s not considered to be homeland security-related is fair game for zero-funding and budget decreases. That’s us. Uh … if we’re not “homeland security-related,” what are we doing in the DHS? That’s a rhetorical question.
So long as the USFA and the NFA continue to be DHS bottom dwellers, we’ll be susceptible to dreaded “takebacks.” The USFA budget will continue to be a kind of mystery. We’ll always feel like we’re at the edge of the cliff. Confusion and rumors will continue to circulate. And that jewel of the Federal Fire Programs, our National Fire Academy, will continue to be underutilized, and at what cost to the American fire service and the American public?
In Washington, money equals power. But power shifts, and power is perception. It’s time to change the perception in Washington. It’s time for fire service leadership to ascend to positions of influence within the DHS, to actualize fire service power like the homeland security players and all-hazards emergency responders we are.
For that, we need a definitive plan, which was the second goal of the IAFC’s leadership summit of fire service organizations in February and will be the subject of next month’s Editor’s Opinion.
