Sponsors (12)
Official title: To establish fair labor standards, occupational safety protections, and post-incarceration career opportunities for incarcerated individuals engaged in firefighting and to provide previously incarcerated firefighters an opportunity to expunge records of disposition after successful completion of court-imposed probation, and for other purposes.
Introduced May 26, 2025 by Sydney Kamlager-Dove · Last progress May 26, 2025
The bill extends meaningful workplace safety, wage protections, funding, reentry supports, and a pathway to expungement for incarcerated firefighters—improving safety and post‑release prospects—but it imposes new costs, administrative burdens, uneven coverage, and privacy/eligibility limits that may leave gaps or create trade‑offs for taxpayers and jurisdictions.
Incarcerated firefighters will gain OSHA‑equivalent safety protections, training, and certification requirements, reducing workplace injuries and deaths for people incarcerated who perform firefighting or emergency response.
Incarcerated individuals who perform firefighting/emergency work are treated as FLSA employees with formal wage and overtime protections and limits on employer wage deductions, improving pay and labor rights.
The bill provides federal funding to help states update laws and implement protections (including $100M/year FY2026–2031 and a $400k annual reserve), giving states resources to improve training, equipment, and enforcement.
States, the BOP, and taxpayers will face substantial new costs for wages, certifications, compliance, and reporting tied to extending protections and employee status to incarcerated firefighters.
The bill creates new administrative complexity and paperwork (reporting, certifications, recordkeeping, grant compliance) that will increase workloads, require new systems, and raise the risk of litigation over compliance and definitions.
Private correctional facility contractors and other employers may face higher payroll liabilities and compliance costs, potentially increasing contract costs, reducing funds for other prison services, or curtailing incarcerated-worker opportunities.
Based on analysis of 12 sections of legislative text.
Adds incarcerated firefighters to OSHA and FLSA coverage, requires reporting, funds State implementation ($100M/yr FY2026–FY2031), creates reentry grants, and enables expungement petitions.
Adds incarcerated firefighters to federal workplace-safety and wage-protection rules, requires reporting on workplace conditions in correctional facilities, creates federal grants to help States cover and enforce protections, establishes a reentry training and placement program for former incarcerated firefighters, and creates a pathway for eligible incarcerated firefighters to seek expungement of certain convictions. The law directs federal and State agencies to report on injuries and compliance, authorizes $100 million per year in implementation grants (FY2026–FY2031), and reserves modest Justice Department funds to support State monitoring and implementation.