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S. 4271119th CongressIn committeeLatest action Mar 26, 2026Decoded by AI · checked against the record
The plain-language version leads. The official text is always the reference.
S 4271 gives federal wildland firefighters mandatory paid rest after long deployments and makes overtime pay limits permanently waived.
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S 4271 creates a mandatory paid rest and recuperation leave program for federal wildland firefighters, requiring paid days off immediately after long fire deployments — for example, 3 days after a 14-day assignment and 4 days after a 21-day assignment. The leave cannot be saved or cashed out. The bill also permanently removes the cap on overtime pay that previously required repeated congressional renewals to keep in effect.
The bill covers federal civilian wildland firefighters employed by the U.S. Forest Service or the Department of the Interior, including both full-time and part-time workers in that official classification. State and local firefighters are not covered.
Without permanent overtime authority, firefighters faced potential earnings cutoffs each time the temporary waiver expired, creating recurring uncertainty. People in wildfire-prone areas could be indirectly affected if the changes influence whether agencies can recruit and keep experienced federal firefighters.
AI-drafted summary. Verify it against the official text before you act on it. Read the official bill on Congress.gov
Right now: a Senate committee is reviewing it. If the House changes it, it goes back to the Senate before reaching the President.
Latest action: — Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.