{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.curtis.senate.gov/press-releases/curtis-cosponsors-bipartisan-legislation-to-secure-hazard-pay-for-wildland-firefighters", "Curtis Cosponsors Bipartisan Legislation to Secure Hazard Pay for Wildland Firefighters", "2026-06-22", "2026", "2026-06", "Republican", "Senate", "UT", "John R. Curtis", "C001114", "www.curtis.senate.gov", "curtis", "https://www.curtis.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON\u2014U.S. Senator John Curtis (R-UT) cosponsored the Wildland Firefighter Hazard Pay Correction Act, bipartisan legislation to provide hazard pay to wildland firefighters and smokejumpers for prescribed burns and training jumps, ensuring these brave first responders are recognized with fair compensation.\n\n\u201cPrescribed burns are one of the many ways wildland firefighters put their lives on the line to prevent wildfires and manage our lands,\u201d said Senator Curtis. \u201cThis bill ensures federal wildland firefighters and smokejumpers are fairly compensated for the risks they take to protect our forests, public lands, and communities.\u201d\n\nThe legislation was introduced by Senators Tim Sheehy (R-MT) and Alex Padilla (D-CA) and is also cosponsored by Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO) and John Hickenlooper (D-CO).\n\n\u201cOur wildland firefighters and smoke jumpers face incredible risks to defend our communities, and for too long, they have done so without fair compensation. With the bulk of fire season on its way, this bipartisan bill ensures we pay these heroes what they deserve as they continue their dangerous work to protect families, communities, and property from the threat of catastrophic wildfire,\u201d said Senator Sheehy.\n\n\u201cWildland firefighters put their lives on the line to keep our communities safe. As wildfires become more intense and frequent, we need to recruit and retain more firefighters to maintain strong crews on the frontlines. Our bill will ensure that our brave wildland firefighters receive hazard pay for a broader range of high-risk work \u2013 delivering a long-overdue raise,\u201dsaid Senator Padilla.\n\nBackground:\n\nAlthough firefighters receive hazard pay when responding to active wildfires, they don\u2019t receive equivalent compensation when conducting prescribed burns, despite facing similar risks from fire, smoke, and rugged forest conditions. Likewise, hazard pay isn\u2019t provided to smokejumpers conducting regular proficiency jumps needed to maintain readiness, even though parachuting into remote areas is inherently hazardous.\n\nIn April, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) took a strong step towards addressing these gaps, issuing a proposed rule that adds prescribed wildland fire duties as a covered activity triggering hazard pay.\n\nThe Wildland Firefighter Hazard Pay Correction Act would codify and build on OPM\u2019s efforts by providing hazard pay to wildland firefighters and smoke jumpers for prescribed burns and training jumps. This bill will ensure that risks across the full range of wildfire mitigation and response activities are recognized with fair compensation \u2013 supporting the first responders that keep our communities safe.\n\nWhat the bill does:\n\nExpresses a sense of Congress that firefighters who engage in prescribed fire and smokejumper training activities take on risks comparable to those in wildfire suppression and should receive hazard pay to fairly compensate these risks.\n\nAmends 5 U.S.C. 5545 to require that duties involving the ignition, control, or suppression of a prescribed burn, and smokejumper exercises for training, proficiency, or operational purposes, receive the same pay differential as wildfire response activities.\n\nDirects OPM to issue implementing hazard pay regulations within 90 days of enactment.\n\nThe full text of the bill can be found here.\n\nAdditional Support:\n\n\u201cAmerica\u2019s wildland firefighters are asked to do some of the toughest and most dangerous work in the country from responding to devastating wildfires to carrying out the prescribed burns and training that help prevent future disasters. They deserve to be fairly compensated for those risks. Megafire Action is proud to support this bipartisan legislation because investing in the people who fight these fires is essential to building a more resilient future. We thank Senators Sheehy and Padilla for their leadership on this legislation and look forward to its passage.\u201d\u2013 Matt Weiner, co-founder and CEO of Megafire Action\n\n\u201cCommercial aerial assets work alongside federal ground crews every day \u2014 on wildfires, on prescribed burns, and in support of smokejumper operations. Codifying hazard pay for prescribed fire duties into statute gives the workforce \u2014 and the agencies \u2014 something durable to build on. The bill\u2019s extension of hazard pay to smokejumper training jumps is equally important. Maintaining parachute proficiency is not an administrative exercise; it is operational readiness, and it carries real risk. Compensating it accordingly is overdue. We commend Senator Sheehy and Senator Padilla for their leadership on this bill and urge swift action.\u201d \u2013 Paul Petersen, Executive Director, United Aerial Firefighting Association", 1, "2026-06-24T06:25:30Z", "2026-06-24T06:26:49Z"]], "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://www.curtis.senate.gov/press-releases/curtis-cosponsors-bipartisan-legislation-to-secure-hazard-pay-for-wildland-firefighters"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0008248500525951, "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"}