I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1943 
To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for special base rates 
of pay for wildland firefighters, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 6, 2025 
Mr. NEGUSE (for himself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. HARDER of California, Mr. 
BERGMAN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. CISCOMANI, Ms. LEE of Nevada, Mr. 
BACON, Mr. COSTA, Mr. VALADAO, Mr. WHITESIDES, and Mrs. KIM) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Over-
sight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committees on 
Natural Resources, and Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently de-
termined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for special 
base rates of pay for wildland firefighters, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Wildland Firefighter 
Paycheck Protection Act of 2025’’. 
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SEC. 2. SPECIAL BASE RATES OF PAY FOR WILDLAND FIRE-
FIGHTERS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter III of chapter 53 of 
title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 
section 5332 the following: 
‘‘§ 5332a. Special base rates of pay for wildland fire-
fighters 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 
‘‘(1) the term ‘firefighter’ means an employee 
who— 
‘‘(A) is a firefighter within the meaning of 
section 8331(21) or section 8401(14); 
‘‘(B) in the case of an employee who holds 
a supervisory or administrative position and is 
subject to subchapter III of chapter 83, but 
who does not qualify to be considered a fire-
fighter within the meaning of section 8331(21), 
would otherwise qualify if the employee had 
transferred directly to that position after serv-
ing as a firefighter within the meaning of that 
section; 
‘‘(C) in the case of an employee who holds 
a supervisory or administrative position and is 
subject to chapter 84, but who does not qualify 
to be considered a firefighter within the mean-
ing of section 8401(14), would otherwise qualify 
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if the employee had transferred directly to that 
position after performing duties described in 
section 8401(14)(A) for at least 3 years; or 
‘‘(D) in the case of an employee who is not 
subject to subchapter III of chapter 83 or chap-
ter 84, holds a position that the Office of Per-
sonnel Management determines would satisfy 
subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) if the employee 
were subject to subchapter III of chapter 83 or 
chapter 84; 
‘‘(2) the term ‘General Schedule base rate’ 
means an annual rate of basic pay established under 
section 5332 before any additions, such as a locality- 
based comparability payment under section 5304 or 
5304a or a special rate supplement under section 
5305; 
‘‘(3) the term ‘special base rate’ means an an-
nual rate of basic pay payable to a wildland fire-
fighter, before any additions or reductions, that re-
places the General Schedule base rate otherwise ap-
plicable to the wildland firefighter and that is ad-
ministered in the same manner as a General Sched-
ule base rate; and 
‘‘(4) the term ‘wildland firefighter’ means a 
firefighter— 
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‘‘(A) who is employed by the Forest Serv-
ice or the Department of the Interior; and 
‘‘(B) the duties of the position of whom re-
late primarily to wildland fires, as opposed to 
structure fires. 
‘‘(b) SPECIAL BASE RATES OF PAY.— 
‘‘(1) ENTITLEMENT TO SPECIAL RATE.—Not-
withstanding section 5332, a wildland firefighter is 
entitled to a special base rate at grades 1 through 
15, which shall— 
‘‘(A) replace the otherwise applicable Gen-
eral Schedule base rate for the wildland fire-
fighter; 
‘‘(B) be basic pay for all purposes, includ-
ing the purpose of computing a locality-based 
comparability payment under section 5304 or 
5304a; and 
‘‘(C) be computed as described in para-
graph (2) and adjusted at the time of adjust-
ments in the General Schedule. 
‘‘(2) COMPUTATION.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The special base rate 
for a wildland firefighter shall be derived by in-
creasing 
the 
otherwise 
applicable 
General 
Schedule base rate for the wildland firefighter 
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by the following applicable percentage for the 
grade of the wildland firefighter and rounding 
the result to the nearest whole dollar: 
‘‘(i) For GS–1, 42 percent. 
‘‘(ii) For GS–2, 39 percent. 
‘‘(iii) For GS–3, 36 percent. 
‘‘(iv) For GS–4, 33 percent. 
‘‘(v) For GS–5, 30 percent. 
‘‘(vi) For GS–6, 27 percent. 
‘‘(vii) For GS–7, 24 percent. 
‘‘(viii) For GS–8, 21 percent. 
‘‘(ix) For GS–9, 18 percent. 
‘‘(x) For GS–10, 15 percent. 
‘‘(xi) For GS–11, 12 percent. 
‘‘(xii) For GS–12, 9 percent. 
‘‘(xiii) For GS–13, 6 percent. 
‘‘(xiv) For GS–14, 3 percent. 
‘‘(xv) For GS–15, 1.5 percent. 
‘‘(B) HOURLY, DAILY, WEEKLY, OR
BI-
WEEKLY RATES.—When the special base rate 
with respect to a wildland firefighter is ex-
pressed as an hourly, daily, weekly, or biweekly 
rate, the special base rate shall be computed 
from the appropriate annual rate of basic pay 
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derived under subparagraph (A) in accordance 
with the rules under section 5504(b).’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
for subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5, United States 
Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to 
section 5332 the following: 
‘‘5332a. Special base rates of pay for wildland firefighters.’’. 
(c) PREVAILING RATE EMPLOYEES.—Section 5343 
of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at 
the end the following: 
‘‘(g)(1) For a prevailing rate employee described in 
section 5342(a)(2)(A) who is a wildland firefighter, as de-
fined in section 5332a(a), the Secretary of Agriculture or 
the Secretary of the Interior (as applicable) shall increase 
the wage rates of that employee by an amount (determined 
at the sole and exclusive discretion of the applicable Sec-
retary after consultation with the other Secretary) that is 
generally consistent with the percentage increases given 
to wildland firefighters in the General Schedule under sec-
tion 5332a. 
‘‘(2) An increased wage rate under paragraph (1) 
shall be basic pay for the same purposes as the wage rate 
otherwise established under this section. 
‘‘(3) An increase under this subsection may not cause 
the wage rate of an employee to increase to a rate that 
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