Harder Votes to Pass Bill to Improve Benefits for More Than 10,000 Firefighters Nationwide
Bipartisan legislation will allow federal firefighters to earn the same benefits as state and local firefighters including job related disability and retirement
WASHINGTON – Today, Representative Josh Harder voted to pass the Federal Firefighters Fairness Act, a bipartisan bill that ensures federal firefighters receive the same access to job-related disability and retirement benefits as state, county, and municipal firefighters. The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) estimates this measure would improve benefits for more than 10,000 firefighters across the U.S. The legislation is endorsed by: International Association of Fire Chiefs, International Association of Fire Fighters, and American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE).
“Our firefighters are heroes and I’m proud to have their backs,” said Rep. Harder. “This bill will ensure every firefighter, regardless of whether they’re employed at the local, state, or federal level, gets the benefits they deserve without ridiculous amounts of red tape or paperwork. These catastrophic wildfires don’t care about bureaucracy and neither should we.”
The bill ensures that the federal government stands behind federal firefighters who risk their lives to protect all Americans. Specifically, the legislation establishes a science-based list of diseases for which an automatic presumption of work-related illness would apply. The is a common-sense fix that helps Federal firefighters—who have contracted cancers and face difficulty proving illnesses are work-related because of the lack of data—to prove their disease is linked to work exposures.
This continues Rep. Harder’s diligent work to address the staggering lack of firefighters employed with the US Forest Service as California continues into its third straight ‘driest year on record.’ According to recent reports, 20% of U.S. Forest Service firefighters left their jobs in California from 2019 to 2021. That’s a loss of more than 1,000 firefighters in just a three year span. Last year, Rep. Harder successfully pushed the Biden Administration to raise federal firefighter pay to at least $15 per hour.
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