Wildland firefighters have been pushing for permanent pay raises for years. A stopgap funding measure approved by the U.S. House of Representatives and now heading to the Senate would do just that.
On Tuesday, the House approved a continuing resolution that would keep the government funded through September. Tucked inside is a measure that would provide raises to federal wildland firefighters – as much as 42% for the lowest paid workers. It would also provide for incident response pay.
Max Alonzo, the secretary treasurer for the National Federation of Federal Workers (NFFE), thinks it’s likely to pass.
“I'm extremely proud of everybody that put their time and effort into this,” he said. “But to have this happen and be overshadowed by all of the negative happening in our federal government, it’s just really sad.”
He was referring to the recent mass layoffs of thousands of federal workers, though judges and other officials have ordered reinstatements. On Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Senate Republicans don’t have the 60 votes necessary to approve the measure, according to NPR.
Asked if he supports passage of the continuing resolution, Alonzo said he doesn’t want to see the government shut down, and would be thrilled to see the raises. But he added “I don’t think it’s a good package.”
The NFFE put out two releases Tuesday on the continuing resolution: one praising the inclusion of firefighter raises in the measure, and another harshly criticizing the resolution, calling it a “reckless move” that “hands unchecked power to the executive branch, bypassing Congress’s role in shaping government spending and policy.”
Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), who has supported firefighter pay boosts, voted for the resolution. He cited the raises as one of its key victories, along with raises for “junior enlisted service members.”
“Passing this continuing resolution keeps the government open for hardworking Americans while allowing Congress and the Trump administration to maintain momentum and deliver America First policies that the American people overwhelmingly voted for,” he said in a release.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
