The that averted a government shutdown also temporary raises for federal wildland firefighters 鈥� for now.
Last weekend鈥檚 drama didn鈥檛 resolve the pay cliff, which could bring pay cuts as large as $20,000 for thousands of firefighters. It simply pushed it to mid-November.
Advocacy groups are going to use the breathing room to push for a permanent fix, like the .
鈥淚t's introduced in both the House and the Senate, has broad bipartisan support, and in the short order of things, that's the first piece of legislation that [we] realistically feels should be passed,鈥� said Jonathon Golden, who does government affairs work with Grassroots Wildland Firefighters.
But Golden is 鈥渟lightly pessimistic鈥� about the bill鈥檚 prospects, in part because House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted in a rebellion led by some fellow Republicans. Golden said that as a Californian, McCarthy had a closer relationship with wildfire than some possible .
Golden, a former firefighter, says his wildland colleagues are accustomed to tough conditions.
鈥淎nd this is what Congress is presenting us with right now, a very hard, arduous and unfavorable condition,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut we're not deterred. We're not dissuaded.鈥�
This story was produced by the Mountain West 暗黑爆料 Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West 暗黑爆料 Bureau is provided in part by the .
