Press Releases

Congressman Salud Carbajal (CA-24), a member of the bipartisan Wildfire Caucus, is calling on his colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives to act on legislation to avert a pay cut for federal wildland firefighters on September 30.

“As Californians have been baking this week in an extreme heat wave, our brave federal firefighters choose to put on heavy gear and head into the heat. They spend these scorching months cutting down trees, digging lines, and sleeping yards away from these deadly wildfires – to keep us safe,” said Rep. Carbajal. “And if we don’t act soon, Congress is going to thank these brave firefighters for their service with a pay cut.”

In 2021, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provided a temporary pay raise for federal wildland firefighters, but that raise expires at the end of the fiscal year. If allowed to expire, wildland firefighters could see their pay cut by as much as 50%, a cut that the Forest Service estimates would likely cause thousands of firefighters to leave the federal workforce.

Earlier this year, Congressman Carbajal and his colleagues from the Western United States introduced the bipartisan Wildland Firefighter Paycheck Protection Act to permanently increase the base pay, deployment pay, and benefits for federal wildland firefighters.

Congressman Carbajal spoke on the House Floor to push for the passage of this bill. The Congressman’s full remarks can be found here and below as prepared for delivery:

Mister Speaker, I rise today to stand with our nation’s firefighters, including our federal and wildland firefighters, and to thank them for the tireless and dangerous work they are doing in California at this very moment.

In the past week alone, there have been more than a dozen new wildfires in California – totaling nearly 50,000 acres across our state.

In San Bernardino, the Line Fire has forced thousands to evacuate; the Bridge Fire, the Davis Fire, the Boyles Fire, the Airport Fire, and the Chimineas Fire in my region (near the Carrizo Plain) is thankfully nearly contained. 

But consider this: as Californians have been baking this week in an extreme heat wave, our brave federal firefighters choose to put on heavy gear and head into the heat.

They spend these scorching months cutting down trees, digging lines, and sleeping yards away from these deadly wildfires – to keep us safe.

And if we don’t act soon, Congress is going to thank these brave firefighters for their service with a pay cut.

We took a great step in 2021 with our Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which provided a 50% pay raise to these heroes. But we cannot let that vital provision expire now.

The Forest Service predicts that this pay cut and loss of benefits could lead to half of our federal and wildland firefighters leaving their jobs, leaving the entire American West at risk.