By Cayla Mihalovich, CalMatters

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Gov. Gavin Newsom today signed a set of bills meant to recognize incarcerated firefighters, including a historic measure to raise their pay to meet the federal minimum wage during active fires. 

The wage increase, funded through the state budget, follows years of advocacy to improve pay and working conditions for incarcerated labor. That effort took on a new urgency after hundreds of incarcerated firefighters were deployed to battle deadly wildfires that hit Los Angeles in January. 

State lawmakers this year introduced a seven-bill “Firefighting to Freedom” package to protect incarcerated firefighters and support job opportunities upon their reentry. Five of those bills were signed into law today, marking the most comprehensive changes to incarcerated firefighting in the state’s history. 

Incarcerated firefighters previously earned between $5.80 and $10.24 per day, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. During active emergencies, Cal Fire pays them an additional $1 per hour. Now, they will earn $7.25 per hour when they’re on a fire. 

Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, a Democrat from Culver City who authored the bill, said Californians should feel proud about the sense of moral clarity that crossed party lines.

“​This is a historic and momentous day,” said Bryan. “​The governor signing the bill is an incredibly powerful reminder that all labor is dignified and anybody who is willing to put their lives on the line deserves our gratitude.”

Bryan initially set out to raise wages for incarcerated firefighters to $19 per hour, but settled on the federal minimum wage after budget negotiations. The bill was opposed by the California State Sheriffs’ Association over concerns of its potential fiscal impact on counties, which administer jails and could also face pressure to increase pay for incarcerated labor. 

It received bipartisan support from nearly two dozen lawmakers. 

“A number of years ago, when I worked for Cal Fire, you have never seen men work harder than with these crews,” said Assemblymember Heath Flora at a legislative hearing in September, a Republican from Ripon who co-authored the bill. “There is not a system — there is not a program — better than the fire camps with Cal Fire and the state of California.”

Bryan introduced the bill after voters last year rejected a ballot measure that would have ended forced labor in prisons and jails. It would have amended the state’s constitution to repeal language that allows involuntary servitude as a form of criminal punishment, making work assignments voluntary. 

California’s incarcerated firefighters have long provided critical support to state, local and federal government agencies in responding to various emergencies, including wildfires and floods. They’re voluntary assignments. 

Over 1,800 incarcerated firefighters live year-round in minimum-security conservation camps, also known as “fire camps,” located across 25 counties in California, according to the corrections department. Those numbers have dwindled in recent years due to a declining prison population. 

Two of the proposals did not pass, including one that would have required Cal Fire to create more opportunities for incarcerated firefighters to secure firefighting jobs upon their release. The proposal, Assembly Bill 1380, did not reach Newsom. 

That was disappointing to Royal Ramey, a formerly incarcerated firefighter who co-founded the nonprofit organization Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program, which sponsored the measure. But he said the other five bills signed by Newsom are “huge progress.”

“For me, transitioning from fire camp into a career was one of the hardest challenges of my life, and I know too many people who never got that chance,” said Ramey. “With these laws, we can change that story.”

The package of bills Newsom signed included:

• Assembly Bill 247: Requires incarcerated firefighters be paid $7.25 per hour while actively fighting a fire.
• Assembly Bill 799: Requires the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation pay a death benefit of $50,000 for the death of an incarcerated firefighter.
• Assembly Bill 812: Requires the corrections department to create regulations around referring incarcerated firefighters for resentencing.
• Assembly Bill 952: Requires the corrections department to establish and expand the Youth Offender Program Camp Pilot Program as a permanent program.
• Senate Bill 245: Streamlines and expedites the expungement process for formerly incarcerated firefighters.

“It’s incredibly heartening to see that the Legislature has taken the issue of protecting incarcerated firefighters seriously,” said Taina Angeli Vargas, executive director of the nonprofit organization Initiate Justice Action, which co-sponsored most of the bills. “It’s about time that the state of California began to treat them with more respect and dignity.”

Assemblymember Sade Elhawary, a Democrat from Los Angeles who authored the law to establish and expand the youth pilot program, said it’s an opportunity for the 13 other states that have incarcerated firefighters to “follow in the footsteps of California.”

“I hope this is the beginning of what will be a national movement to elevate the rights and opportunities for incarcerated firefighters,” she said. “All of these folks deserve more love and support.”

Cayla Mihalovich is a California Local News fellow.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.

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