Tim’s Act
Sponsored By: Representative Neguse, Joe [D-CO-2]
In Committee
Summary
Would create pay parity for federal wildland firefighters. The bill would replace the General Schedule base rate with a Special Base Rate and add steep deployment pay, new leave, health supports, and retirement credit to match the risks of wildland firefighting.
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- Federal wildland firefighters would move to a Special Base Rate that replaces the GS base for pay and locality calculations. Deployment days would pay an "incident response premium" equal to 450% of the hourly rate, capped at $9,000 per calendar year.
- Workers would get new paid Rest and Recuperation leave and 7 consecutive calendar days of mental health leave per year. The bill would require a public cancer and cardiovascular disease database and a mental health program with peer support and unlimited dedicated sessions.
- It would allow retroactive credit for certain pre-enactment service if employees make required deposits and would count specified overtime toward retirement. The measure would create a Wildland Fire Management Casualty Assistance Program for next of kin and set aggregate pay caps tied to Executive Schedule levels while allowing limited Secretarial waivers.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
6 provisions identified: 5 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.
Bonuses, hazard pay, and housing
If enacted, the bill would create or expand several pay and support items to recruit and retain wildland firefighters. Agencies would establish a recruitment/retention bonus of at least $1,000 (increased yearly by CPI) payable once per calendar year after a work-capacity test. Permanent wildland firefighters who choose to participate could get at least $4,000 per year in voluntary tuition assistance. The Secretaries would also provide a housing allowance for deployments more than 50 miles from home and extend hazardous-duty pay differentials to covered wildland tasks like prescribed fire and hazard-tree removal.
Higher base pay and parity
If enacted, Federal wildland firefighters would get a new special base pay scale that raises their GS base rate by a grade-specific percentage. The increases range by grade (for example, about 42% at GS-1 down to about 1.5% at GS-15) and are rounded to the nearest dollar. The special base pay would be treated like basic pay and must be increased each year by at least the December-to-December change in the U.S. city average CPI. The bill would also direct agency leaders to raise prevailing-rate wages generally in line with these GS increases and require a report and parity review for Federal structural firefighters.
Retirement, service credit, and overtime
If enacted, the bill would expand retirement protections and credit rules for Federal wildland firefighters. It would allow some prior Federal service (back to October 1, 2003, and certain service from 1989) to be credited as firefighter service if employees and agencies pay required deposits and interest. The bill would also treat overtime earned after enactment as basic pay for retirement calculations and require separate actuarial normal-cost treatment for wildland firefighters. These changes could raise pensionable pay and future annuities.
New incident-response premium pay
If enacted, covered wildland firefighters deployed to qualifying incidents would get a daily incident response premium equal to 450% of their hourly basic pay (about 4.5 times the hourly rate). The total premium any one employee may receive is capped at $9,000 per calendar year. The bill also says this premium would not be part of basic pay for retirement, lump-sum leave, or FLSA minimum-wage/overtime calculations, and it allows Secretaries to count it and similar standby pay in 2025 limits and to apply an aggregate annual cap (Executive Schedule Level II) subject to agency waiver rules. Prevailing-rate wildland firefighters would get the premium on the same terms as GS employees.
Mental health and casualty support
If enacted, the Secretaries would set up a mental health program and support services for wildland firefighters and their immediate family by January 1, 2026. Firefighters would get a dedicated support service with trauma-informed professionals and no session limits, training, peer networks, and an expanded Critical Incident Stress Management program. The bill would also give each firefighter seven consecutive paid days per year for mental health and create paid Rest and Recuperation leave after qualifying incidents. The Interior Department would create a casualty assistance program within six months to help next-of-kin with notifications, travel costs, case management, and benefit navigation after a line-of-duty death or critical injury.
Disease, disability, and claims help
If enacted, certain exposure-related diseases in Federal wildland firefighters would be treated as disabling sooner, using 12 months instead of 18 months for relevant disability rules. The Department of Labor's OWCP would be directed to recognize PTSD and related psychological conditions from firefighting and expand a Special Claims Unit to speed claims. The Secretaries would also create a public cancer and cardiovascular disease database for current and former wildland firefighters within one year to track exposures and recommend mitigation.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Neguse, Joe [D-CO-2]
CO • D
Cosponsors
Rep. Harder, Josh [D-CA-9]
CA • D
Sponsored 1/28/2025
Rep. Fitzpatrick, Brian K. [R-PA-1]
PA • R
Sponsored 1/28/2025
Rep. Pettersen, Brittany [D-CO-7]
CO • D
Sponsored 1/28/2025
Lofgren
CA • D
Sponsored 1/28/2025
Stansbury
NM • D
Sponsored 1/28/2025
Rep. Hoyle, Val T. [D-OR-4]
OR • D
Sponsored 1/28/2025
Rep. Brownley, Julia [D-CA-26]
CA • D
Sponsored 1/28/2025
Rep. Bacon, Don [R-NE-2]
NE • R
Sponsored 1/28/2025
Levin
CA • D
Sponsored 1/28/2025
Thompson (CA)
CA • D
Sponsored 2/13/2025
Rep. Lawler, Michael [R-NY-17]
NY • R
Sponsored 3/11/2025
Schrier
WA • D
Sponsored 3/11/2025
Bresnahan
PA • R
Sponsored 4/24/2025
Bonamici
OR • D
Sponsored 1/8/2026
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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