# 119-hr-10061: Wildfire Response and Readiness Act 119-hr-10061, Wildfire Response and Readiness Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Neguse, Joe [D-CO-2] (D-CO); status in_committee; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-30). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-10061 - As of: 2026-10-30 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: 119-hr-10061 - Congress: 119 - Title: Wildfire Response and Readiness Act - Status: in_committee - Introduced: 2026-08-06 - Sponsor: Rep. Neguse, Joe [D-CO-2] (D-CO) - Cosponsors: 12 - Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources - Touches household money: yes - Last recorded action: 2026-10-30 ## Summary **dramatically expand prescribed fire and landscape‑scale restoration**. This bill would create a National Prescribed Fire Program plus a 10‑year National Wildfire Plan to grow prescribed‑fire acreage and coordinate landscape restoration across Federal and partner lands while building workforce, monitoring, and grant tools. - Families and communities: creates an Individual Household Disaster Mitigation program offering up to $10,000 per household for qualifying pre‑disaster measures, with income caps of $250,000 (single) and $500,000 (joint). - Workers and agencies: funds workforce pipelines including Civilian Conservation Centers, training grants, and hiring goals that target 300 program graduates per Secretary each year, plus CPI‑based annual pay increases and new pay and hazard‑duty authorities for wildland firefighters. - Landscapes, Tribes, and rural economies: authorizes landscape restoration and post‑fire rehabilitation accounts, including a Long‑Term Burned Area Rehabilitation account capped at $100.0 million per year and a Collaborative Prescribed Fire Program capped at $20.0 million per year. *Net fiscal: would authorize new, multi‑year federal spending across many programs and accounts and therefore increase federal outlays over FY2027–FY2036.* ## Cosponsors (12) - Rep. Huffman, Jared [D-CA-2] (D-CA), 2026-08-06T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Craig, Angie [D-MN-2] (D-MN), 2026-08-06T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Salinas, Andrea [D-OR-6] (D-OR), 2026-08-06T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Whitesides, George [D-CA-27] (D-CA), 2026-08-06T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Pettersen, Brittany [D-CO-7] (D-CO), 2026-08-06T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Carbajal, Salud O. [D-CA-24] (D-CA), 2026-08-20T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Torres, Norma J. [D-CA-35] (D-CA), 2026-08-20T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Case, Ed [D-HI-1] (D-HI), 2026-08-20T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Bera, Ami [D-CA-6] (D-CA), 2026-08-31T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Mullin, Kevin [D-CA-15] (D-CA), 2026-08-31T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Randall, Emily [D-WA-6] (D-WA), 2026-08-31T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Vasquez, Gabe [D-NM-2] (D-NM), 2026-08-31T00:00:00.000Z ## Provisions PRIA read - Household disaster grants and faster aid: benefit, high. If enacted, the bill would create an Individual Household Disaster Mitigation Program that lets States and Tribes give up to $10,000 per household for qualifying pre‑disaster home mitigation. The household limit would not exceed actual costs and would rise with the Consumer Price Index. Households… - Retirement, disability, and comp changes: benefit, high. If enacted, qualifying Federal wildland firefighter service back to January 1, 1989 could count toward Federal retirement if the worker makes a written election and required deposits. Some service from October 1, 2003 to the day before enactment could also count if the worker and agency remit requi… - Nationwide smoke alerts and satellite monitoring: benefit, high. If enacted, the bill would create a nationwide smoke monitoring and alert system within one year. It would fund real‑time smoke forecasts and county‑level alerts and modernize AirNow. The bill would authorize $32 million per year for smoke monitoring and $20 million per year for State satellite gra… - More Community Wildfire Grants: benefit, high. If enacted, the Agriculture Department would get an extra $1 billion each year for the Community Wildfire Defense Grant Program. That money would be in addition to amounts already available. The bill does not set an end date or how much any one community or household would receive. - Grants to Harden Homes: benefit, medium. If enacted, community wildfire grants would be allowed to pay to make buildings resist flames and embers. Grants could fund changes to a structure or nearby areas like vegetation, garages, sheds, and fencing. Eligible work would need to reduce exposure to flame, radiation, or embers. This change wo… - Hiring, training, and firefighter tuition help: benefit, medium. If enacted, the bill would expand hiring and training pathways for wildfire workers. It would let agencies directly hire eligible covered graduates in FY2027–2036 and set a goal to hire 300 graduates each year. The bill would create a leadership academy and grant programs and require a voluntary tu… - Hiring, training, and worker supports: benefit, medium. If enacted, agencies would set up mental health programs for federal wildland firefighters by January 1, 2027, including peer support and a distinct trauma‑informed service. Each firefighter would get 7 consecutive paid days off per year for mental health. Agencies could convert qualifying seasonal… - More livestock aid after fires: benefit, medium. If enacted, the bill would let livestock producers get Livestock Forage and Emergency Livestock Assistance for losses tied to prescribed fire, beneficial fire, and wildfires managed for resource objectives. Producers would still need to meet other program rules to get payments. - Federal post‑fire recovery and reforestation funding: benefit, medium. If enacted, the bill would fund and speed post‑fire recovery on mostly Federal land. It would create a long‑term burn rehabilitation account authorizing up to $100 million per year for FY2027–2036. The bill would also require restoration project planning, add competitive community resilience grants… - More prescribed fire and planning tools: benefit, medium. If enacted, the bill would boost use of prescribed fire and require regional operational plans. It would create collaborative, landscape‑scale prescribed‑fire project rules (generally 50,000‑acre minimum, 10‑year plans), allow multi‑year agreements, and require regional strategies and training cent… - Public wildfire data and research support: benefit, medium. If enacted, the bill would create or expand public wildfire data, research, and technology programs. It would require a public Wildfire Digital Data Center and fund research, advisory work, and prizes to move science into operations. The bill would authorize $15 million per year for the data center… - Worker health, liability, and survivor supports: benefit, medium. If enacted, the bill would expand protections and supports for wildfire workers. It would extend Federal tort‑claim treatment to qualifying partners under supervision, require voluntary training on liability protections, and create a survivor assistance program within six months to help next‑of‑kin… - Electric Grid Resilience Awards: benefit, medium. If enacted, the Energy Department would run a Resilience Accelerator program to fund National Laboratory projects that test technologies to protect the electric grid from wildfires. Projects could include vegetation-management monitoring and tools to improve responder safety. The bill would authori… - Protect research labs and roadless areas: benefit, low. If enacted, the Agriculture Secretary would have to get prior notice and approval from key House and Senate appropriations leaders before closing Forest Service research facilities. The bill would also bar road construction, major road rebuilding, and logging in inventoried roadless areas where the… - Public education and mitigation advisory committee: benefit, low. If enacted, the bill would direct agencies to run a national prescribed‑fire education program using ads, materials, and awards. The President would also create a 50‑member hazard mitigation advisory committee to recommend mitigation activities for household mitigation programs. These actions would… - Faster payments to local fire departments: benefit, low. If enacted, the bill would require agencies to set standard payment procedures for fire‑suppression cost‑share agreements within one year. Federal paying entities would have to reimburse local fire departments or State wildland firefighter agencies for properly submitted invoices. Congress would st… - Utility Vegetation Removal on Federal Lands: benefit, low. If enacted, Agriculture or Interior officials would be able to allow covered electric utilities to cut or remove trees and other vegetation near power lines on National Forest and BLM lands. The work would have to follow land management plans and environmental laws. If a utility sold removed materi… - Prescribed fire and landscape restoration: mixed, high. If enacted, the bill would push federal agencies to expand prescribed fire on Federal land by 10 percent each fiscal year for nine years and allow up to 15% of certain hazardous-fuels funds to pay for prescribed fire. Training centers and non‑Federal practitioner inclusion would be expanded, and th… - Higher pay, bonuses, and housing support: mixed, medium. If enacted, covered federal wildland firefighters would get annual pay increases tied to the Consumer Price Index starting one year after enactment. The bill would allow recruitment or retention bonuses of at least $1,000 (indexed to CPI) after passing a work test, and it would create a hazardous-d… ## Related bills - 119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026 - 119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act - 119-hr-20: Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2025 - 119-hr-7977: Energy Bills Relief Act - 119-hr-5390: FAMILY Act - 119-hr-15: Equality Act ## Sources - [119-hr-10061 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/10061) ## Related - [119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9877) - [119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7973) - [119-hr-20: Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-20) - [119-hr-7977: Energy Bills Relief Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7977) - [119-hr-5390: FAMILY Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-5390) - [119-hr-15: Equality Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-15) - [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-10061 (as of 2026-10-30).