LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — As federal government officials work out a spending deal, Nevada's senators are calling for wildland firefighter pay increases to be included in the deal.
As it stands, funding that previously increased pay for federal wildland firefighters, passed within the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill in 2021, will expire on September 30.
Democratic Senators Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen submitted a letter to senate leadership Friday urging them to include a permanent salary increase in any government funded package, according to a release from Sen. Rosen.
“Without legislative action, firefighter pay rates will return to a rate that is unsustainable and unacceptable,” the two senators wrote.
“Nevada is particularly vulnerable to the threats posed by wildfires. In fact, the Bureau of Land Management’s Nevada Fire and Aviation Unit is responsible for protecting more land than any other such unit in the lower 48 states,” Rosen and Cortez Masto continued.
The full letter can be read here.
