The U.S. House of Representative last night passed H.R. 3354. It is an omnibus appropriations bill which will fund all federal government agencies through September 30, 2018.
During consideration of the legislation, the House added:
- An amendment by Rep. Bill Pascell, Jr. (D-NJ) to increase U.S. Fire Administration's funding by $1 million to reinstate state fire training assistance grants. This would increase USFA funding to a total of $44.41 million.
- An amendment by Rep. Dale Kildee (D-MI) to increase funding for the SAFER grant program to $365 million.
- An amendment by Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) to increase funding for the U.S. Forest Service's Volunteer Fire Assistance program by $1.3 million to $15.9 million and the State Fire Assistance program by $11 million to $87 million.
The House bill is not expected to pass in the Senate, where the Democrats object to some of the policy riders and funding levels in the bill. The federal government currently is funded until December 8.