U.S. Reps. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) and Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) introduced the Fair Pay for Federal Firefighters Act (H.R. 4831) last week, offering a base pay raise for federal firefighters as a stopgap against U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) pay cuts caused by lack of funds.
“Our firefighters work tirelessly to keep our communities safe from wildfires, and we owe it to them to advocate for their best interests,” Newhouse said. “Raising their pay and providing them with increased deployment bonuses will not only attract more talent, but it will also keep our current force motivated while they are in the middle of wildfire season. The Fair Pay for Federal Firefighters Act will prevent the USDA’s drastic cuts and ensure federal firefighters get the pay they deserve.”
The legislation would create a new base pay rate scale, with firefighters at the lowest end of said pay scale getting the largest increases in pay. The boosts would put pay rates in line with rates for state and private firefighters, while adding deployment bonuses for those tasked to respond to wildfires. Further, federal wildland firefighter pay would be kept stable for two years to give Congress time to come to a more permanent solution for their salary.
“Wildland firefighters have some of the toughest jobs out there – their pay needs to reflect the hazardous nature of their work,” LaMalfa said. “We are in the middle of another fire season and firefighters’ current bonus pay is about to run short from Biden’s Jobs Act three years early. It’s critical that Congress moves swiftly to ensure that federal wildland firefighters don’t leave the workforce due to fear that they’ll take a substantial pay cut unexpectedly in only two months. My bill ensures that federal firefighters get adequate pay, while repurposing existing funds to be fiscally responsible.”
While the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act had provided $600 million, split between the USDA and Interior Department, it was supposed to last from October 2021 through September 2026. It was supposed to increase the base pay for wildland firefighters by $20,000 or 50 percent, whichever is less, but recent figures puts the funding at its limit by the end of September 2023.