Direct Hire To Fight Fires
Sponsored By: Representative Issa
In Committee
Summary
Creates direct-hire authority for federal wildland firefighters to speed hiring and cut red tape at the Forest Service and the Department of the Interior. It also would require streamlined hiring policies within 1 year and annual public reports on staffing needs and vacancies.
Show full summary
- Wildland firefighters and recruits: Would allow qualified candidates in frontline and support roles to be appointed without standard competitive hiring rules. Eligible job types include Forestry Technicians (GS-0462) and Aircraft Operations (GS-2181) and related firefighting support roles.
- Agency hiring managers: Would require the Secretaries to implement policies within 1 year to reduce hiring time, remove redundant steps, simplify rehiring of former agency employees, and ease inter-agency transfers.
- Congress and the public: Would require annual, publicly posted reports starting 1 year after enactment on anticipated staffing needs, planned hiring events, current staffing and vacancies by State, hiring barriers, and recommendations to improve recruitment and retention.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Annual public hiring reports to Congress
Beginning one year after enactment and every year after, each Secretary would send Congress and publish a public report by February 1. The report must list how many wildland firefighters and support staff are needed by position, planned hiring events, current staffing by position, vacancies by State, barriers to meeting hiring goals, and status of the direct hire authority and streamlined hiring policies. Each report must also include the agency's recommendations to improve recruitment and retention.
Faster hiring for wildland firefighters
If enacted, the Agriculture and Interior Secretaries would be allowed to directly hire qualified people for covered wildland firefighting and support jobs without some competitive hiring rules. The authority would apply on Forest Service lands and Interior lands. Covered job series include GS-0462, GS-2181, GS-0301 and GS-0401 when they support firefighting and are eligible for firefighter retirement coverage, GS-2101, certain equipment operator pay grades (WG/WL/WS-5716) when supporting firefighting and eligible for firefighter retirement coverage, GS-2151 dispatching that supports firefighting and is firefighter-retirement-eligible, GS-1670, and any new wildland firefighting series. This rule would take effect upon enactment.
Rules to speed and simplify hiring
Not later than one year after enactment, the Agriculture and Interior Secretaries, working with the Office of Personnel Management, would be required to make policies to recruit and keep wildland firefighters. Those policies would aim to cut hiring time, remove duplicate hiring steps, make rehiring former agency workers easier, and reduce barriers for firefighters moving between agencies. The goal is to speed up hiring and retention for wildland firefighting jobs.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Issa
CA • R
Cosponsors
Kiley (CA)
CA • R
Sponsored 1/15/2025
Obernolte
CA • R
Sponsored 1/15/2025
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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