Congress·In Committee·S. 4274

WINGS Act

Firefighting Equipment: Giving Ownership of Planes to States

3 months ago·View on Congress.gov·Read full text

The WINGS Act is currently in the early stages of the legislative process. It was recently introduced in the Senate and sent to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry for review. No further actions are scheduled at this time.

Legislative Progress

Senate

House

President

Law

Likely to pass

This bill has bipartisan support from senators in states that deal with heavy wildfires and addresses a practical administrative problem.

Key Points

The WINGS Act allows the federal government to give full ownership of firefighting planes and parts to state and local agencies. Currently, these agencies only borrow the equipment from the Forest Service, even though they spend a lot of money maintaining it.
To get ownership, a state or local fire department must have used the plane for at least 10 years or the parts for 5 years. They must also show they have followed all safety rules and kept good records of the equipment.
This change helps local fire departments plan for the future without worrying about the federal government taking the equipment back. It also cuts down on paperwork for both the states and the federal government.
Once a state owns a plane, they must promise to keep using it for public safety or firefighting for at least five more years. They cannot sell or lease the planes to private companies during that time without special permission.

Impact Analysis

Govbase has not yet run an impact analysis on this legislation.

Milestones

2 milestones2 actions

Mar 26, 2026Senate

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

Sent to a congressional committee for expert review. The committee decides whether this bill moves forward.

Mar 26, 2026

Introduced in Senate

The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.

Votes

No votes have been recorded for this legislation yet.

News

No related news coverage found for this legislation yet.

Source Information

Document Type

Congressional Bill

Official Title

WINGS Act

Bill NumberS 4274

Congress119th Congress

ChamberSenate

Latest ActionRead twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

Data Sources

Congress.gov

Official legislative information

Read Full Bill Text

Sponsor

Cosponsors

(1)

D: 1

Analysis generated by AI. Always verify with official sources.