Fact Checking Hightower’s Claim on Perry and the Forest Service
How did grant cuts to volunteer departments affect firefighting capabilities? Politifact investigates. Photo by Linnea Nasman for KUT NewsAudio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
In this week’s Politfact Texas, Gardner Selby of the Austin American-Statesman talks to KUT’s Emily Donahue about a claim made by former Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower.
Hightower said on MSNBC recently that Perry’s “state officials” say the latest wildfires were inevitable because of hot, dry, windy conditions and because Perry and the Republican-led Legislature “managed to slash the budget of the volunteer fire departments in our state by 75 percent in the last legislative session.”
“People’s homes are burning down because of [Perry’s] failure to stand up … to fund our firefighting capability,” Hightower said.
The state budget that Perry signed into law this June includes a 70 percent cut to a fund that helps volunteer fire departments buy clothing and equipment, including fire trucks, and pay for training. The amount for those grants had been about $23 million a year. Now it’s $7 million.
The Texas Forest Service, which oversees the grants, said this change means it won’t be doling out money for fire trucks until late in the year, when it knows how much money is left to give out. However, the service also says this reduction had no effect on its ability to fight fires.
The agency can go back and ask lawmakers to reimburse its firefighting costs. Earlier this year, for instance, it got about $120 million from lawmakers to pay for past costs.
Politifact Texas rated Hightower’s statement false.
Listen to the interview by clicking the player above.
Podcast: Download (4.3MB)
This fact astounds me yet even more as to the lack of cuts in the “Good Ol’ Boy” Prison System. and what cuts they do make are from the most cost effective and
Professional Managment ones, MOST NEEDED in these days and times…I’m talking First Hand eyewitness experience here…Does anyone ever check into all their supplemental budget Requests….I could go on and on. But the preferential accorded TDCJ and their ilk lessons and demeans Agencies that actually provide Sincere, Honest and even Heroic labors…Tis a shame that so much apathy Prevails…
I meant to say , Are Not From, the most cost effective…Sorry
If a law was signed stating that the funding is cut from 23 million to 7 million, than how can you say that Hightowers claim is false? Pedernales Volunteer Fire Dept. is on the news asking for donations because their trucks and equipment are old and unreliable. And, you say the Fire Service has to wait until the end of the year to see how much money is left? Sounds to me like this has impeded the fighting of fires. http://www.kvue.com/news/Pedernales-FD-equipment-in-need-of-repair-129774303.html