As disastrous wildfires ravage the country, the firefighters helping combat them could see their pay slashed in a matter of months. The Biden administration wants to make sure that doesn't happen.
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 is also requesting $12 billion for FEMA to help replenish its disaster relief fund.
Currently, firefighters are working under a temporary pay raise funded through Biden's bipartisan infrastructure legislation. That law, in an effort to help combat retention and hiring issues, mandated that firefighter pay in hard-to-hire areas would increase by either $20,000 annually or 50% — whichever is less.
But that funding is only in place through the rest of the fiscal year. Per the OMB, that could mean over 20,000 firefighters could see pay slashed in October, with some making as little as $15 an hour.
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