Support our Firefighters Act

This bill, known as the "Support our Firefighters Act," establishes a new system for paid rest and recuperation leave for federal wildland firefighters. This leave is specifically for employees of the Forest Service and Department of the Interior who are deployed to respond to qualifying incidents , acknowledging the intense physical and mental demands of their service. The Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior are mandated to jointly develop uniform policies for this leave, which may include requirements like 3 days of leave after a 14-day deployment or 4 days after a 21-day deployment . This leave must be used immediately after an incident, is paid like annual leave, and cannot be saved or cashed out, with intermittent employees receiving equivalent payment during these periods. In addition to leave provisions, the legislation addresses critical financial aspects for wildland firefighters. It authorizes the transfer of up to $5,000,000 in unobligated funds from the Forest Service to the Department of the Interior to ensure the uninterrupted continuation of federal wildland firefighter base salary increases and associated premium pay. Furthermore, the bill permanently extends the waiver of overtime caps for wildland firefighters, applying to "any calendar year thereafter," providing ongoing flexibility and fair compensation for their extended work hours.