By Lisa Meyer

Cornerstone Government Affairs

On June 5^th, the House Appropriations Committee passed out the FY 08 DHS Appropriations bill.  The bill was passed by the full House on June 15. The Senate Appropriations Committee passed its version of the FY 08 DHS Appropriations bill in the Senate on June 14.

It is now waiting to be considered before the full Senate and is expected to pass in the near future.  First responder funding levels may be viewed here.

In the House version of the bill, the first responder and port security programs contain $4.52 billion. This is $1.97 billion above the President’s request and $863 million above FY 2007 level. These grants were funded at $4.92 billion in 2004 and have been cut every year since.

It is important to note that the President has vowed to veto any appropriations bill that is over his budget request.

Since June 15, the House Appropriations Committee pulled all bills, minus the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Military Construction bills to insert earmarks in them.  This has slowed down the appropriations process dramatically.  As a result, the House Labor-HHS bill has been marked up in Subcommittee but will not be considered before the full Appropriations Committee until July 9. 

In addition, Advocates for EMS President, Dr. Bob O’Connor, testified on Friday, June 22, before the before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on The Government's Response to the Nation's Emergency Room Crisis. The hearing largely focused on Emergency Department overcrowding and ways to address it.  Witnesses testimony may be viewed  at: http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1363 

Finally, a resolution passed the Senate establishing September 25, 2007 as National First Responder Appreciation Day.  Senator Allard’s office issued a press release on Friday and it included a quote from Jerry Johnston on behalf of NAEMT.