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Congress·In Committee·S. 279

Congress proposes higher base pay and new health, leave, and retirement benefits for wildland firefighters

Tim’s Act

about 1 year ago·View on Congress.gov
⏸

Stalled

No legislative action in over 90 days.

Legislative Progress

Senate
House
President
Law

Key Points

  • Raises base pay for federal wildland firefighters by grade, with bigger boosts at lower pay levels (up to 42%).
  • Adds incident response premium pay for longer or more complex fire deployments, capped at $9,000 per year.
  • Creates new paid time off after major incidents, plus 7 consecutive days of paid mental health leave each year.

    From policy text

    “each Federal wildland firefighter shall be entitled to 7 consecutive days of mental health leave, without loss or reduction in pay, during a calendar year.”
    View in full text
  • Sets up health tracking and support: a public cancer and heart disease database, and a new mental health support program for firefighters and families.

    From policy text

    “establish and maintain on a website a publicly accessible, searchable database, to be known as the ``Federal Wildland Firefighter Cancer and Cardiovascular Disease Database'', to track chronic disease caused by on-the-job environmental exposure over the lifetimes of current and former Federal wildland firefighters;”
    View in full text
  • Improves long-term benefits: retirement credit options, some disability rules for job-related disease, bonuses starting at $1,000, a housing allowance for deployments over 50 miles, and tuition help of at least $4,000 per year.

    From policy text

    “The Secretaries shall provide a housing allowance to any Federal wildland firefighter deployed to a location more than 50 miles from the primary residence of that Federal wildland firefighter.”
    View in full text
Labor EmploymentHealthcareInfrastructure

Impact Analysis

Personal Impact

How this policy affects specific groups of people

Positive Impacts(3)
Federal Employee
Helps
Disability Benefits
Helps
Retiree
Helps

Milestones

2 milestones2 actions
Jan 28, 2025Senate

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

Jan 28, 2025

Introduced in Senate

What Happens Next

Projected impacts based on AI analysis

2025-10-01

Rest and recuperation leave becomes available after qualifying incidents

After longer deployments, eligible employees could be given paid recovery time that must be used right away (not saved for later)

2025-10-01

Incident standby premium pay is counted toward existing premium pay limits for 2025

Some people could hit annual pay caps sooner in late 2025 depending on the mix of overtime/premium pays they earn

First pay period with a payment date in January 2026

New special premium pay limitation rules begin

Higher earners and heavy overtime workers could be affected by new annual pay cap rules and possible waivers, changing how much premium pay can be paid out

2026-01-01

Mental health awareness and support program must be up and running

Wildland firefighters and their immediate families should gain access to dedicated counseling and peer support without session limits (as described in the bill)

Within 180 days after the Act is enacted

Wildland Fire Management Casualty Assistance Program is created at Interior

Families dealing with hospitalization or a line-of-duty death could get help navigating benefits and get travel reimbursement to visit injured firefighters

Within 1 year after the Act is enacted

Cancer and cardiovascular disease tracking database goes live

Current and former wildland firefighters could see better tracking of long-term exposure-related disease and improved prevention recommendations over time

Within 1 year after the Act is enacted

Tuition assistance program begins for permanent wildland firefighters

Eligible permanent staff could apply for at least $4,000 per year to pay for education or job training to support career transitions

1 year after the Act is enacted

Structural firefighter pay/benefit parity requirement starts

Federal structural firefighters could see pay/benefit changes aimed at matching what wildland firefighters receive under this Act

Source Information

Document Type

Congressional Bill

Official Title

Tim’s Act

Bill NumberS 279
Congress119th Congress
ChamberSenate
Latest ActionRead twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

Sponsor

Analysis generated by AI. Always verify with official sources.