Sponsors (12)
Introduced May 26, 2025 by Sydney Kamlager-Dove · Last progress May 26, 2025
The bill extends employee protections, safety standards, funding, and expungement pathways for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated firefighters—improving safety and reintegration—but does so at measurable fiscal and administrative cost and with some legal and equity limitations in implementation.
Incarcerated firefighters and correctional staff will gain OSHA-equivalent workplace safety protections and training, reducing injuries, illnesses, and deaths on wildfire and emergency responses.
Incarcerated firefighters will be treated as employees under the FLSA so they are eligible for minimum wage and overtime protections and wages cannot be offset by board/lodging or certain court-ordered fee deductions.
State and local governments will receive targeted federal funding to update laws, enforcement capacity, and implement safety protections (includes $100M/year FY2026–2031 grants plus smaller annual implementation grants), enabling law changes and capacity building.
Taxpayers and public agencies will face higher labor and operating costs (wages, overtime, training, PPE, insurance) as incarcerated firefighters gain employee protections, potentially reducing funds available for other services or increasing taxes.
States, localities, and the Bureau of Prisons will incur new administrative and compliance burdens to certify protections, collect data, and prepare reports, diverting staff time and resources.
The federal funding commitment (about $600 million total FY2026–2031) increases federal outlays, which may pressure other budget priorities and be viewed as a cost to taxpayers.
Based on analysis of 12 sections of legislative text.
Extends workplace safety, wage, and reentry protections to people who work as incarcerated firefighters. The bill treats incarcerated firefighters as employees under OSHA and the Fair Labor Standards Act, requires reporting on safety and injuries, creates federal grants to help States cover and enforce protections, funds reentry job services for former incarcerated firefighters, and provides a statutory process to expunge qualifying convictions for eligible participants.