while the Fiscal Year 2025 House Interior Bill permanently increased pay for our brave federal wildland firefighters, we still need to get this across the finish line.
Secure permanent pay increases for federal wildland firefighters.
Occurrences
Evidence
legacy_unverified · Source version not recorded · locator unknown
Sec. 1807 states that sections 456 and 457 of H.R. 8998, as passed by the House on July 24, 2024, are enacted into law. Those incorporated sections created special base rates and incident response premium pay for federal wildland firefighters.
legacy_unverified · Source version not recorded · locator unknown
OPM’s 2026 GW salary table lists wildland firefighters under Pay Plan GW, special base rates at grades GS-1 through GS-15, effective January 2026, with annual rates by grade and step.
Assessments
The promised outcome was achieved during Simpson's continuing federal House service: Congress enacted permanent federal wildland firefighter pay reforms in Public Law 119-4 in March 2025, and OPM implemented the new GW wildland firefighter special base-rate pay plan. Candidate credit is supported because Simpson chaired the relevant Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee and his appropriations work materially advanced the provision that became law.