Sponsors (16)
The bill raises pay and safety protections for federal wildland firefighters—boosting immediate pay, retirement calculations, premium deployment pay, and R&R leave to improve retention and reduce fatigue—at the cost of higher federal spending, caps and exclusions that limit who benefits, broad executive discretion that may produce uneven outcomes, and a modest diversion/waiver of IIJA funds.
Wildland firefighters in the Forest Service and DOI (salaried employees) receive statutory base pay increases (grade‑specific increases up to ~42%) that count as basic pay for locality pay, retirement, and other entitlements, raising take‑home pay and long‑term benefits.
Wildland firefighters deployed to qualifying incidents (including prevailing‑rate wage employees) are eligible for high daily premium deployment pay (450% of hourly rate), increasing compensation for hazardous deployments.
Covered wildland firefighters receive paid rest‑and‑recovery (R&R) leave immediately after qualifying deployments and new protections (authority for deployment length limits and an optional 16‑hour average work cap) to reduce fatigue and improve safety.
All taxpayers face higher federal personnel costs from larger base pay, paid R&R, and premium deployment pay, which could increase budgetary pressure and require offsets or additional appropriations.
The premium deployment pay is constrained by an annual $9,000 cap and by calculating pay using GS‑10 step 10 locality rates, which will limit extra income for frequently deployed and higher‑paid employees.
The premium pay is treated as non‑basic pay and excluded from leave lump‑sum calculations, FLSA minimum‑wage/overtime computations, and other pay formulas, reducing its impact on downstream benefits and protections.
Based on analysis of 5 sections of legislative text.
Creates grade‑based special base pay for federal wildland firefighters, an incident response premium, paid R&R leave, and permits up to $5M transfer to continue prior IIJA pay increases.
Creates a new permanent pay and benefits package for federal wildland firefighters at the U.S. Forest Service and Department of the Interior. It replaces the ordinary General Schedule base pay for covered wildland firefighters with grade‑based “special base rates” (specific percent uplifts by GS grade), requires comparable increases for prevailing‑rate (wage) wildland firefighters, establishes a deployable incident response premium pay entitlement, creates paid rest & recuperation (R&R) leave for deployed certified wildland firefighters, and allows up to $5 million in specified IIJA unobligated balances to be transferred to continue prior temporary federal firefighter base pay increases. The bill sets detailed grade‑by‑grade uplifts, conversion rules for hourly/daily pay, administrative discretions and consultation requirements for agency implementation, a cap on prevailing‑rate increases at the Executive Schedule IV annual rate, and phased effectiveness keyed to the end date of prior temporary IIJA pay increases. Some implementation details (specific premium pay rates/formulas and administrative rules) are left to the Secretaries and implementing regulations in the text provided.
Introduced March 6, 2025 by Joseph Neguse · Last progress March 6, 2025