Alex Padilla U.S. Senator for California

WASHINGTON, D.C. — As devastating wildfires rage across Southern California, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) introduced a package of three bipartisan bills to strengthen wildfire resilience and rebuilding efforts. The package includes the Wildland Firefighter Paycheck Protection Act to protect firefighter pay, the Fire Suppression and Response Funding Assurance Act to bolster the pre-deployment of essential firefighting assets, and the Disaster Housing Reform for American Families Act to streamline the construction of temporary disaster housing.

The devastating fires across Southern California that broke out on Tuesday, January 7, have killed more than two dozen individuals and burned down more than 12,000 structures, forcing hundreds of thousands of Los Angeles residents to evacuate. The fires have burned over 40,000 acres — including over 23,000 from the Palisades Fire and over 14,000 from the Eaton Fire as wind gusts up to 100 miles per hour accelerated the fires’ growth and inhibited firefighters’ efforts to contain the blaze for days.

“I’ve spent the last week seeing firsthand the devastation caused by the fires ravaging Southern California — people who have lost loved ones, families who have lost the homes their children and grandchildren grew up in, and businesses and places of worship reduced to rubble,” said Senator Padilla. “These bills would improve readiness, response, and recovery for disasters that are becoming all too common across the county, from expanding and expediting disaster housing options to investing in essential prepositioned firefighting forces. And we must make sure the federal firefighters laying their lives on the line to protect our communities are given a permanent pay raise. As fires continue to rage across Los Angeles County, I’ll keep fighting to secure extensive federal collaboration and disaster aid to help impacted families get back on their feet and rebuild their communities.”

“Montana’s wildland firefighters bravely put their lives on the line to protect our lands and our communities. I’m proud to work with my colleagues on this bipartisan bill to make the well-deserved pay raise permanent and will always support those on the front lines who serve our communities selflessly,” said Senator Steve Daines (R-Mont.), co-lead of the Wildland Firefighter Paycheck Protection Act.

“Floods, wildfires, typhoons, earthquakes, and blizzards are just some of the natural disasters that impact Alaskans every year,” said Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), co-lead of the Fire Suppression and Response Funding Assurance Act. “We are not alone in these catastrophes. Our prayers are with the people of southern California who have been impacted by the terrible wildfires this week. States like Alaska and California, with our vast size and elevated risk, often need greater federal assistance to respond to and recover from these kinds of crises. I want to thank Senator Padilla for working with me on this legislation to give FEMA the flexibility and authority to increase its funding match to ensure Alaskans, Californians, and all Americans have the resources they need to quickly and fully recover, while also strategically mitigating disaster risks to our communities.”

“Leaving disaster victims without a roof over their heads is not an option. We must change the way we respond to storms and wildfires,” said Dr. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), sponsor of the Disaster Housing Reform for American Families Act. “This is a better way to provide more resilient and longer-lasting housing that allows communities to recover quickly.”

“Wildland firefighters put their lives on the line to protect our communities, homes, and loved ones. It’s our responsibility to ensure their pay is commensurate with the critical and dangerous nature of the work they do in order to support recruitment and retention. In order to swiftly rebuild and recover, we must also ensure that state and local governments have the resources they need for wildfire prevention and response efforts. These bills will help accomplish both objectives,” said Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.).

“Two of the most critical actions we can take to improve wildfire response in our country are protecting federal wildland firefighters’ pay and ensuring we are proactive in preparing for and responding to the threat of wildfires,” said Senator Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.). “I am proud to join my colleagues on this commonsense legislation that will ensure we have the backs of the brave first responders on the frontlines of these disasters and improve initial attack success rates by pre-positioning resources to prevent large-scale tragedies.”

“Wildland firefighters are currently on the front lines battling historic and dangerous fires. As climate change grows the risk for catastrophic wildfires in New Mexico and across the West, it’s critical that we invest in increased wildland firefighter pay, capacity, housing, mental health, and well-being,” said Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.). “Congress needs to act now to permanently raise wildland firefighter pay, and that’s what this legislation does. I won’t stop fighting to provide our heroic wildland firefighters with the pay and benefits they have long deserved.”

Wildland Firefighter Paycheck Protection Act

This bipartisan legislation, co-led by Senator Steve Daines (R-Mont.), helps ensure the federal government can recruit and retain a sufficient wildland firefighting workforce to keep communities safe. The Wildland Firefighter Paycheck Protection Act of 2025 would prevent the worst-case scenario for federal wildland firefighters and avert an automatic pay cut. The bill would protect the pay raise secured for wildland firefighters in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Given the lower pay and grueling nature of the work, there is grave concern about the ability to meet the staffing and labor levels required to adequately respond to wildfires across the country. In a 2022 report, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) concluded that low pay was the most commonly cited barrier to federal wildland firefighter recruitment and retention.

The Wildland Firefighter Paycheck Protection Act would prevent attrition and provide long-term workforce stability. Specifically, the bill would:

• Permanently Increase Federal Wildland Firefighter Pay. The bill would avoid the impending pay cliff by permanently increasing wildland firefighter pay at levels at or near those enacted within the current temporary increase.

• Establish a New Pay Scale for Wildland Firefighters. The bulk of the pay increases within the bill are realized via the establishment of a new pay scale for wildland firefighters at all grade levels, similar to the General Schedule (GS) pay scale that is applicable to most federal employees.

• Establish Additional Pay Supplements for Wildland Firefighters. Base pay would be supplemented by pay for each day a firefighter is deployed on a wildland fire. The legislation would provide for specialized premium pay for wildland firefighters who respond to certain prolonged fire incidents, including those like the Southern California fires that are not contained within 36 hours.

• Require Consistency in Agencies’ Policies Related to Work-Life Balance. To limit burnout, the bill directs agencies to work to make existing policies consistent and to study opportunities to ensure proper paid rest and recuperation for wildland firefighters to lessen burnout.

“The National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE) and the federal wildland firefighters we represent have been sounding the alarm for years about increasingly dangerous wildfires and our country’s inability to contain them,” said NFFE National President Randy Erwin. “The brave men and women on the front lines of the fire crisis need to be paid a living wage for the incredibly skilled and hazardous work they do to protect American communities. No federal wildland firefighter should have to live out of their car or chase thousands of hours of overtime just to make ends meet. Federal wildland firefighters have made it clear that they can no longer endure the uncertainty that comes with a pay cliff or a temporary pay raise. We are already facing a massive shortage of wildland firefighters nationwide, and the end result is what we have witnessed in Los Angeles, where Americans have died and entire communities have been completely destroyed. Congress must pass the Wildland Firefighter Paycheck Protection Act if protecting our country from wildfires is a priority.” 

In 2023, Padilla and a bipartisan group of Senators urged Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to avoid mass resignations within the wildland firefighter ranks by ensuring the prompt passage of their bipartisan legislation. Padilla and a bipartisan group of Senators also urged the Biden Administration to establish a special pay rate for federal wildland firefighters to prevent staffing shortages and strengthen wildfire response efforts in 2022. Following that request, the Administration announced a temporary pay raise. Padilla and the late Senator Dianne Feinstein previously called on the Administration to increase wildland firefighter pay in 2021.

Senators Adam Schiff, Tim Sheehy, Martin Heinrich, and John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) are cosponsoring the legislation.

A one-pager on the bill is available here.

Full text of the bill is available here.

Fire Suppression and Response Funding Assurance Act

This bill, co-led by Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), would ensure that pre-deployed state and local fire suppression assets are eligible for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Fire Management Assistance Grants (FMAG) and allow flexibility for the federal cost share of such grants to be increased beyond 75 percent.

The maximum 75 percent federal cost share currently allowed for the FMAG program differs from other FEMA programs that allow for flexibility for the administration to grant a higher federal cost share during extreme events like the Southern California wildfires. The state must pay the remaining 25 percent for actual costs, with no flexibility for consecutive FMAGs or extreme circumstances.

This bill would make FMAGs consistent with other FEMA disaster assistance by stating that the federal cost share of FMAGs shall be not less than 75 percent of the eligible cost of such assistance. This bill does not mandate any increase but simply allows for additional flexibility. FMAGs are granted on an incident-by-incident basis, and as we have seen across the West, fires often occur in the same area consecutively in the same year.

Senators Adam Schiff and Tim Sheehy are cosponsoring the legislation.

A one-pager on the bill is available here.

Full text of the bill is available here.

Disaster Housing Reform for American Families Act

This legislation, sponsored by Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La.), would expedite, expand, and improve temporary housing available to victims of disasters like wildfires and storms. The bill instructs FEMA and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to establish a five-year pilot program to expand the entities that can participate and the types of housing options (e.g. modular and manufactured housing) available for federal disaster housing. It also allows these units to be transferred to certain entities such as a local public housing authority or an affordable housing program to ensure long-term use of these structures.

The bill also expands FEMA assistance to go beyond home repair and replacement to include closing costs related to buying new homes through federal affordable housing financing (cost of appraisal, title searches, etc.).

The new housing would more closely resemble typical affordable housing. To ensure quality and livability, the home construction standards would be consistent with federal standards on permanent housing, including those for flood management and natural disaster resilience. Once disaster victims can return to permanent homes, the property could then be transitioned to help increase the local affordable housing supply.

Full text of the bill is available here.

Senator Padilla has long been a leader in strengthening the federal and state response to wildfires. His legislation to strengthen FEMA’s wildfire preparedness and response efforts, the FIRE Act, became law in 2022. Padilla also successfully advocated for California to receive billions for wildfire response and drought relief in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. After years of delays due to contracting issues, Padilla secured an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2024 to finalize the transfer of seven C-130s from the Coast Guard to California to retrofit for fighting wildfires. The first of these planes began fighting deadly wildfires this summer and has been instrumental in fighting the ongoing Southern California fires. 

Most recently, Padilla secured an amendment to bolster the FireGuard program, which utilizes military satellites to help fight wildfires, as part of the NDAA for Fiscal Year 2025. Last month, he successfully secured unanimous Senate passage of the Federal Disaster Tax Relief Act, which includes Padilla’s bipartisan legislation to provide critical tax relief for wildfire survivors who have received compensation for the losses and damages they have suffered and was signed into law last month. He also previously introduced the Fire Suppression Improvement Act, a bill to help ease the burden on state and local governments who are shouldering the weight of increasingly devastating wildfires.

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