With a sharp pay cut now less than three months away for federal wildland firefighters, a new piece of legislation has been introduced to address the issue.
Independent Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is the sponsor of the . Two republicans and three democrats - all but one of whom represent Western states - are .
The 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funded significant temporary raises, but those will run out at the end of September.
鈥淲ildland firefighters in Arizona and across the country risk their lives to keep our communities safe,鈥� Sinema said in a . 鈥淩ecognizing their sacrifice and hard work, I secured fair pay in my bipartisan infrastructure law for wildland firefighters, and now I鈥檓 ensuring this pay is permanent.鈥�
Sinema鈥檚 bill would put in place permanent raises 鈥渁t or near鈥� those temporary bumps, according to a . It would create a new pay scale, as well as pay supplements for each day firefighters are deployed.
鈥淲ithout any further Congressional action, wildland firefighters would again revert to earning minimum wage-level incomes,鈥� the summary reads. 鈥淎gency leadership and firefighter associations have testified that a lack of further Congressional action would likely result in massive departures from the Federal wildland firefighter workforce this year and compromise Federal responsiveness to America鈥檚 growing wildfire crisis.鈥�
Jonathon Golden is a former wildland firefighter who does legislative affairs work for Grassroots Wildland Firefighters, an organization which has been advocating for workplace reforms.
鈥淚f we're really going to put to rest a lot of the pay and benefits issues that federal wildland firefighters face, then we have to start from somewhere,鈥� Golden said. 鈥淎nd this is a good starting spot.鈥�
He likened the bill to an anchor point, the place where fire crews begin building a fireline to control a blaze.
鈥淎nd the work is not done,鈥� he added.
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