A handful of California congressional representatives on Wednesday introduced a bill that would waive annual pay caps for federal firefighters working overtime.
Coinciding with President Joe Biden announcing his intention to raise federal firefighters' pay, the lawmakers recognized that fire season has turned into a year-round issue.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren led six other California representatives in introducing the legislation, and she told KCBS Radio on Wednesday she's happy President Biden is vowed federal firefighters will not earn fewer than $15 dollars an hour.
But other issues must be addressed, she said.
"The President also said – and I commend him for that – that he is going to put in additional funds for the firefighters, a retention bonus of up to 10% of salary for permanent firefighters up to the GS9 Level and an award for $1,000 for temporary firefighters who commit to continuing this season," Lofgren said. "That's all helpful but we need, of course, to do more."
That includes eliminating firefighters’ salary caps, she said.
When they work overtime after the cap is met, Lofgren said many work without play. She also stated that there aren’t enough firefighters to handle the capacity of a year-round fire season.
If passed, the California contingent’s bill will direct the Departments of Agriculture and Interior to draft a report on the resources necessary to fight fires year-round, so they can understand how much expansion of the workforce is necessary.
"It's not just the pay for firefighters," Lofgren said. "We need to actually apply technology and science to understand everything about fire. How to detect it, how to fight it, how to prevent it."
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