FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Matt Dorsey
Phone: (202) 550-6987
August 8, 2023
Washington, D.C. – Today, the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE) praises the introduction of the House of Representatives companion bill to S. 2272, the Wildland Firefighter Paycheck Protection Act (WFPPA). The legislation would make permanent the funding for firefighter pay raises provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in 2021. The act also includes incident response pay to reflect the 24-hour, seven days per week commitment that wildland firefighters endure while deployed to incidents such as fires, floods, and other catastrophes.
“This is an important step towards ensuring this critical legislation is passed,” said NFFE National President Randy Erwin. “By now, Congress is aware that if this bill is not signed into law by September 30th, federal wildland firefighters will face a pay cut of 50% of their income, up to $20,000. Should this happen, highly trained, professional wildland firefighters will leave the federal service in droves. As the wildfire crisis shows no signs of slowing down, this will be a disaster not only out West, but across the country. Communities will burn and people will die.”
Introduced by Rep. Joe Neguse (D-CO), the House companion bill’s original cosponsors include Representatives Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Scott Franklin (R-FL), Josh Harder (D-CA), and Katie Porter (D-CA).
“Thank you to the bipartisan group of lawmakers who are committed to avoiding this imminent crisis,” continued Erwin. “Their leadership is vital to protecting life, property, and public lands from the raging wildfire emergency. I urge Congress to quickly move this bill through the proper committee and bring the legislation to a full vote on the House Floor as quickly as possible.”