# 119-hr-9444: Support our Firefighters Act

119-hr-9444, Support our Firefighters Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Panetta, Jimmy [D-CA-19] (D-CA); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-07-22).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9444
- As of: 2026-07-22
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-9444
- Congress: 119
- Title: Support our Firefighters Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-06-24
- Sponsor: Rep. Panetta, Jimmy [D-CA-19] (D-CA)
- Cosponsors: 9
- Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-07-22

## Summary

**Paid rest and recuperation leave for federal wildland firefighters.** This bill would create a clear, paid rest-and-recovery entitlement for Forest Service and Department of the Interior wildland firefighting personnel and also adjusts funding and overtime rules to preserve pay and benefits. - Wildland firefighters would earn paid rest and recuperation leave after deployments. The bill requires using 3 days of leave after a 14-day deployment and more rest after longer deployments, paid at the same rate as annual leave. - Employees with intermittent schedules would be excused during the same rest periods and receive pay as if they were eligible for the leave. - The bill lets agencies transfer up to $5 million of unobligated Forest Service wildland fire funds to Interior to continue a prior base salary increase and premium pay, and it replaces fixed calendar-year overtime caps with a continuing "any calendar year thereafter" rule to avoid expiration of those allowances.

## Cosponsors (9)

- Rep. Bresnahan, Robert P. [R-PA-8] (R-PA), 2026-06-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Neguse, Joe [D-CO-2] (D-CO), 2026-06-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Harder, Josh [D-CA-9] (D-CA), 2026-06-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Bacon, Don [R-NE-2] (R-NE), 2026-06-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Bergman, Jack [R-MI-1] (R-MI), 2026-06-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Lawler, Michael [R-NY-17] (R-NY), 2026-06-29T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Salinas, Andrea [D-OR-6] (D-OR), 2026-06-29T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Tran, Derek [D-CA-45] (D-CA), 2026-06-29T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Lee, Susie [D-NV-3] (D-NV), 2026-07-20T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Keep overtime pay available for firefighters: benefit, medium. If enacted, the bill would remove specific calendar-year listings from overtime and premium-pay rules for federal wildland firefighters. Phrases listing years such as 2022–2024 would be replaced with language like "the applicable calendar year" or "any calendar year thereafter." That change would k…
- Move $5 million to firefighter pay: benefit, low. If enacted, the bill would allow up to $5,000,000 of unobligated Forest Service wildland fire funds to be transferred to Interior's wildland fire account. The amounts would be merged with Interior funds and could be used as needed to continue a previous federal wildland firefighter base salary incr…
- Paid rest time for wildland firefighters: benefit, low. If enacted, federal wildland firefighters would get paid rest-and-recuperation (R&R) leave after qualifying deployments. Covered employees would be Forest Service or Interior employees who meet the wildland firefighter definition in 5 U.S.C. 5332a(a) or who are certified by the applicable Secretary…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026
- 119-hr-1262: Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act
- 119-hr-1065: Protect Our Letter Carriers Act of 2025
- 119-hr-842: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act
- 119-hr-1422: Enhanced Iran Sanctions Act of 2025
- 119-hr-2102: Major Richard Star Act

## Sources
- [119-hr-9444 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/9444)

## Related
- [119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9877)
- [119-hr-1262: Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1262)
- [119-hr-1065: Protect Our Letter Carriers Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1065)
- [119-hr-842: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage A…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-842)
- [119-hr-1422: Enhanced Iran Sanctions Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1422)
- [119-hr-2102: Major Richard Star Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2102)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9444 (as of 2026-07-22).