Firefighter looks over scorched area of Soberanes Fire checking for hot spots. The Soberanes Fire located in the Los Padres National Forest in California began on Jul. 22, 2016 started by an illegal campfire, consuming over 86,294 acres. Image: US Forest Service
By: FEDweek StaffA supplemental budget request the White House has sent to Congress includes funds to maintain higher rates of pay for federal wildland firefighters that took effect last year, along with personnel-related funding for several other agencies.
While a measure last year boosted pay rates it contained funding at the higher level only through the current fiscal year, which expires September 30. OMB said the administration “is committed to building a more robust and resilient wildland firefighter workforce and fairly compensating wildland firefighters for the difficult and dangerous work they do. Without congressional action, more than 20,000 heroic firefighters would face a pay cliff starting as soon as October, with salaries being cut to as low as $15 an hour.”
The requested $45 million for Agriculture and $15 million for Interior would cover the costs of the higher rates through the end of the calendar year, it said.
Other personnel-requests include for: DHS, for funding for border enforcement, management, and migrant services; Justice, for hiring immigration judge teams and for anti-fentanyl efforts; Labor enforcement of child labor laws and protect migrant children from dangerous and exploitative labor arrangements; Energy, for National Nuclear Security Administration overseas activities;
The total requested is some $40 billion, about $24 billion of which would be for assistance to Ukraine, $12 billion for disaster assistance and $4 billion for border security and related spending. Congress will not take up the request until returning after Labor Day from a recess, when numerous other budget matters will require attention, including the end of most current agency spending authority on September 30.
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