Padilla hopes to increase firefighter pay, create affordable housing for disaster response

WASHINGTON —  While firefighters continue to battle the Los Angeles County fires, California’s Sen. Alex Padilla is introducing a package of bills to increase their pay and create housing for those affected by disasters — which could later add to the state’s affordable housing supply.

“Just like the firefighters on the lines right now, putting out the fires, we have to work together in our response and our recovery,” Padilla said in an interview with The Times in his U.S. Senate office.

His proposal, the Disaster Housing Reform for American Families Act, ties together two of California’s top priorities: wildfire assistance and affordable housing.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency will be providing temporary housing, such as trailers, to many of the thousands of people who lost their homes in the wildfires. Padilla’s bill, which he is co-leading with Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), would require the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Housing and Urban Development to quickly create housing that could later function as longer-term, affordable housing.

“We can be a little bit smarter about this and allow for the use of modular homes, manufactured homes that are themselves a little bit more sustainable, more resilient,” he said. “Once the disaster is over and folks are moving back into their communities, maybe utilize them, retain them locally for affordable housing.”

The measure could serve as “another tool in the toolbox,” Padilla said, noting that some landlords already are price gouging in the wake of the fires.

Another measure, the Fire Suppression and Response Funding Assurance Act, would expand funding from FEMA for firefighting tools that are put in place before a disaster. The bill would allow for FEMA to cover more of those resources at times of high wildfire risk, before disaster strikes.

“In California, we know that when it’s hot and it’s been dry and the winds kick up, it’s a recipe for disaster. So we can anticipate those conditions. Let’s start putting personnel and equipment in place just in case,” Padilla said, adding that he checks the fires’ progression on the WatchDuty app hourly. “If we can ensure that the program will pick up at least 75% of that, that’s a huge incentive for state and local governments to be able to do just that, with less concern for the budget.”

Padilla recalled a trip he took as a staff member for the late U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), with a former FEMA director in 1996, to survey wildfire damage. Leaders have learned much about fire prevention techniques since then, he noted, such as building with nonflammable materials and clearing brush away from houses.

Padilla is also bringing back the Wildland Firefighter Paycheck Protection Act, which was not voted on after he introduced it during the last Congress, to raise wages for federal firefighters, including premium pay for those fighting long fires. Firefighter pay has been the subject of legislation in the last few years, as President Biden raised the minimum wage from $13 to $15 an hour for wildland firefighters in 2021. Padilla’s legislation is aimed at beefing up the Forest Service’s ability to recruit and retain firefighters with promises of higher pay.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, federal firefighters make, on average, slightly less than state or local firefighters. California unsurprisingly is home to the most firefighters of any states, and pays the best too. A 2019 study from BLS reported that California paid an average annual salary of $84,370.