Hey John,

I’m writing with an update. A few months ago I reached out to you about a massive issue here in California: mega wildfires.

Remember the scary orange skies in San Francisco? The deadly Camp Fire in Paradise? Megafires are one of the greatest risks our beautiful state faces. And yet the past few years I’ve had to fight tooth and nail to help our wildland firefighters get the pay they deserve.

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Federal wildland firefighters often live in remote areas for weeks at a time, expose themselves to hazardous smoke, and endure temperatures of over 1,300 degrees - all while working up to 18 hours a day! They are also 12 times more likely to commit suicide than the general public because of the serious mental health burden the job takes.

That’s why I found it so crazy that some of our federal wildland firefighters were only earning $11.86 an hour - less than California’s minimum wage of $15. I believe the least we can do is to make sure these heroes and their families are receiving a livable wage. So I worked with the Biden Administration and we passed a significant pay raise for our firefighters in 2021.

But this year, Republicans were threatening to let this pay raise expire - which would have effectively given our firefighters a giant pay cut. It is estimated that up to 50% of our wildland firefighters would have left the force - right before another brutal wildfire season coming this summer.

I’m glad to share that this past week I was able to negotiate an extension of this pay raise in the recent government spending bill we passed. Thankfully, we will avert a major crisis that would have left us without the firefighters we needed in 2024.

I know Congress is so dysfunctional these days that it can be hard to celebrate the little wins that mean a big deal to people’s lives, but this is one of those moments! I’ve personally been fighting for this issue for years and I’m glad to see we can make a bit of a difference for these brave men and women who take on the extreme temperatures to keep our communities safe.

Thank you for allowing me to do this important work,

Josh



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Josh Harder for Congress
PO Box 4220
Manteca, CA 95337
United States