{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://harder.house.gov/media/press-releases/bill-passed-harder-s-bill-funding-local-fire-departments-passes-house", "BILL PASSED: Harder\u2019s Bill Funding Local Fire Departments Passes House", "2024-12-17", "2024", "2024-12", "Democrat", "House", "CA", "Josh Harder", "H001090", "harder.house.gov", "harder", "https://harder.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "Fire departments in San Joaquin County have waited over a year to be paid back after responding to fires on federal lands\n\nThe Fire Department Repayment Act addresses Recommendation 50 in the Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission Report on fighting the wildfire crisis\n\nImage\n\nWatch Rep. Josh Harder speak on the House Floor in support of the bill HERE\n\nWASHINGTON \u2013 Today, the House of Representatives passed Rep. Josh Harder\u2019s Fire Department Repayment Act to ensure local departments are fairly and quickly compensated for fighting fires on federal lands. Harder first introduced the bill after meeting with local fire chiefs, and hearing departments were waiting over a year for the federal funds. In part due to a shortage of wildland firefighters, local fire departments are often asked to respond to fires on federal lands which can be very costly between staff pay and equipment costs.\n\n\u201cAs the wildfire crisis keeps getting longer and more dangerous, our local firefighters are being asked to do more and more dangerous work to keep our families safe,\u201d said Rep.Harder. \u201cWhen fires break out on federal land, local firefighters answer the call, whether or not they\u2019re waiting on reimbursement from the last fire they put out. The federal government isn\u2019t reimbursing fire departments for their services quickly enough, and it\u2019s unacceptable for the government to skip out on the bill. This legislation forces the federal government to do the right thing and get our fire departments paid ASAP.\u201d\n\nThis continues Rep. Harder\u2019s work to support firefighters and address the wildfire crisis.\n\nRep. Harder\u2019s Fire Department Repayment Act ensures that the agreements local fire departments enter with the federal government are completed more transparently and in a timely manner, helping give fire departments clarity about when and how much they will be reimbursed for wildfire costs. Specifically, the bill:\n\nEstablishes standard operating procedures for fire suppression costs agreements;\n\nReviews and modifies fire suppression costs agreements as necessary;\n\nEnsures the fire suppression costs agreements align with cooperative fire protection agreements; and\n\nExpedites reviews of standard operating procedures.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:07:19Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://harder.house.gov/media/press-releases/bill-passed-harder-s-bill-funding-local-fire-departments-passes-house"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.90421037748456, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}