- The Biden Administration wants Congress to increase funding for Ukraine and extreme weather.
- According to the Office of Management and Budget, 20,000 firefighters may see their pay cut this fall.
- Currently, wildfire fighters are receiving a temporary wage increase that expires in October.
In a few months, firefighters who are fighting wildfires could have their salaries cut. The Biden Administration wants to ensure that this doesn’t occur.
On Thursday, the Office of Management and Budget released President Joe Biden’s letter to Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy requesting additional funding for Ukraine, the border, and emergency disaster responses — including a $60 million funding increase for the Agriculture and Interior Departments to support pay increases for wildland firefighters. The administration also requests $12 billion to replenish FEMA’s disaster relief fund.
Firefighters are currently working under a Biden’s bipartisan Infrastructure Bill provides funding for a temporary pay increase. In an attempt to combat issues with retention and recruitment, Mandatory that firefighter pay in hard-to-hire areas would increase by either $20,000 annually or 50% — whichever is less.
The funding has only been put in place The rest of fiscal year. According to the OMB this could mean that over 20,000 firefighters’ pay could be slashed by as much as 15% in October.
“The administration is dedicated to building a robust and resilient workforce of wildland blazefighters and to fairly compensate them for their difficult and hazardous work.” “Each firefighter puts their life on the table to protect our community”, a senior official of the administration told reporters during a press conference on Thursday.
The official stated that “we’ve seen bipartisan agreement on the need to pay firefighter salaries to avoid a cliff.”
The potential for a pay cliff looms amid a summer marked by deadly wildfires.UnprecedentedWildfires are raging in Hawaii At least 36 people have died. Texas apartment buildings and acres have been destroyed by Wildfires still raging. With record heat and extreme weather here to stay — and It is likely that the situation will only worsen — more wildfires Could be on the way.
At the same time NBC News reports that should firefighter pay not permanently increase, thousands of wildfire firefighters could leave altogether — up to 50%, according to the National Federation of Federal Employees.
On Tuesday, a group of bipartisan lawmakers Please click here to learn more aboutThe Wildland Firefighter Paycheck Protection Act would make the pay increases for firefighters permanent. In a press statement, lawmakers warned that, if the pay increases expires, there will be a mass departure of federal firefighters in the National Forest Service this year during wildfire season.
“Wildland firefighters put their lives on the line and endure hellish conditions to protect our families – at the very least, they deserve a living wage and support for their mental and physical health,” California Rep. Josh Harder, who introduced the legislation, said in a statement.
“When I found out these brave men and women weren’t earning a living wage, I knew we had to do better,” he continued. “Wildfires are here and we cannot risk losing more of our wildland firefighters while more and worse wildfires threaten our homes and make air quality worse.”
