The Support our Firefighters Act creates a new paid rest and recuperation leave program for federal wildland firefighters employed by the Forest Service and Department of the Interior. After being deployed to respond to major wildfires, covered employees would receive mandatory paid time off following their deployment, with the specific requirements to be determined by the Secretaries of Agriculture and Interior through joint policies. The bill requires a minimum of three days off after 14 days of deployment or four days off after 21 days of deployment, depending on which policy option the agencies choose. The legislation also authorizes up to $5 million in funding transfers from existing wildland fire management budgets to support federal wildland firefighter salary increases and premium pay, and extends indefinitely the authority for overtime pay waivers for these firefighters that were previously set to expire. This bill aims to improve working conditions and compensation for the federal firefighters who battle large-scale wildfires.
Take Action
Your position
Add a comment
to comment on this bill.
Annotate the text
Highlight any passage on the Summary or Full Text tab to attach a note. Annotations appear on the Annotations tab.