JEFFERSON CITY - A budget amendment sponsored by state Rep. Sara Walsh, R-Ashland, will restore $63,000 in vital funding to Missouri Task Force 1.
In the budget proposal presented to the General Assembly, Gov. Eric Greitens had zeroed out this line item in the budget request from the Department of Public Safety for the State Emergency Management Agency for MO-TF1. This prompted Walsh to take steps to recover those dollars that are critical to the work done by MO-TF1.
"Missouri Task Force 1 is an asset to our state and our country," Walsh said. "Having spent time with these dedicated men and women, seeing them train rigorously for the call to leap into action to save lives, I made a commitment to Chief Scott Olsen and members of Task Force 1 to do everything within my power to restore state funding. I thank my House and Senate colleagues for their help in achieving this victory."
Missouri Task Force 1 is one of 28 urban search-and-rescue teams in the United States and is designed to help local emergency agencies facing disasters in and out of Missouri. It is managed by the Boone County Fire Protection District under an agreement with the State Emergency Management Agency. When deployed, each task force team includes 80 responders. Included in the 210 person staff are those filling 18 different functions from K-9 specialists to physicians to heavy equipment operators, all of whom follow FEMA guidelines.
The task force has more than 17,000 separate equipment items maintained in inventory and sent when the task force is deployed.
BCFPD Chief Scott Olsen said he welcomed the money with open arms.
"This money means a lot to Task Force 1 as the bulk of it will go to training our men and women to prepare for the emergency situations they'll face in their service to Boone County and Missouri," he said. "I am thankful to the representatives and senators who voted to restore this funding. I want to especially thank Rep. Sara Walsh for her determination and the never-give-up attitude she displayed in her effort to get this money back into the budget."
The amendment restoring funding is included in HB 2008, which appropriates money for the Department of Public Safety. This and other budget bills, having been passed by the House and Senate, now head to Greitens' desk for his consideration.
Walsh represents House District 50, encompassing parts of Boone, Cole, Cooper and Moniteau counties.