Federal grants for small-town police and fire departments—with transparency built in
H.R. 2979 — BUILD Act of 2025 · Filed by Chris Pappas (D-NH) · 7 cosponsors · Introduced Apr 21, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill creates two federal grant programs—one for small law enforcement agencies and one for small fire departments—serving jurisdictions with 50,000 or fewer residents. The grants, capped at $4 million each, fund facility construction, upgrades, training, recruitment, and community engagement. The bill authorizes $250 million annually for three years (2026–2028) for each program and requires the Attorney General and FEMA to issue guidance, track geographic equity, and report biannually on program outcomes and infrastructure needs.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is straightforward: federal grants to small public agencies for emergency-services infrastructure. No tax carve-outs, no immunity grants, no private-sector riders. The stated purpose and actual mechanism align.
What the text implies
- Grant eligibility is limited to jurisdictions under 50,000 residents, which may exclude mid-sized towns and exurban areas experiencing rapid growth and infrastructure strain.
- The $4 million per-grant cap and $250 million annual authorization may fund only a fraction of documented unmet infrastructure needs across the country's ~18,000 law enforcement and ~30,000 fire departments.
The full analysis lists 4 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
construction and engineering firms (facility upgrades/construction); training and equipment vendors (law enforcement and fire service suppliers); small municipalities and county governments (grant recipients)