Federal firefighters who battle blazes and work to prevent them in California are staring down a looming pay cut and a local representative is among those urging Congress to act before that happens.
Back in 2021, amid one of the worst fire seasons in memory, Congress passed a bi-partisan infrastructure bill that boosted salaries of federal firefighters by up to $20,000 a year.
That pay increase has already been extended once, but now it’s set to expire October 1st. If it does, it would mean a drastic reduction in pay for the roughly 38-hundred federal firefighters in California, and others around the country.
“Unless Congress acts we're basically giving our firefighters a 50% pay cut,” Carbajal said.
Central Coast Representative Salud Carbajal is pushing his colleagues in the House to pass a bill called the Wildfire Protection Act, which would make the pay raises permanent. He said failing to act could.
“It could likely create an exodus of our existing Federal firefighters, leaving the force. Therefore, leaving us more exposed to our inability to fight fires at the rate. And Firefighter power that we need to have to address the ongoing fires,” Carbajal said.
The firefighter pay bill remains in committee and it’s unclear if it will be voted on before the pay cuts take effect.
