Tim’s Act

Tim's Act would increase compensation for federal wildland firefighters employed by the Department of Agriculture, Department of the Interior, or tribal governments. The bill proposes raising minimum pay rates across General Schedule levels 1 through 15, establishing premium pay for firefighters deployed to prolonged fire incidents outside their normal duty stations, and providing paid rest and recuperation leave. Additional benefits would include housing allowances, tuition assistance, and the ability to credit prior service toward retirement.

The bill would also direct the Department of Labor to ensure that psychological stress-related injuries and illnesses connected to fire response are properly compensated and that related claims are expedited. It would establish programs to assist families of wildland firefighters and fire support personnel who are critically injured or killed in the line of duty, as well as programs supporting the mental and physical health of active wildland firefighters. Currently, the bill is under consideration in the House Subcommittee on Forestry and Horticulture and has not yet been voted on by the full chamber.