{"id":6865,"date":"2025-10-15T23:26:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T23:26:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/6865\/"},"modified":"2025-10-15T23:26:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T23:26:08","slug":"californias-incarcerated-firefighters-to-see-historic-pay-increase-with-new-laws","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/6865\/","title":{"rendered":"California\u2019s incarcerated firefighters to see \u2018historic\u2019 pay increase with new laws"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Firefighters<\/a>Inmate firefighters dig a firebreak as the Thompson fire burns on July 2, 2024, in Oroville. (File photo by Ethan Swope\/Associated Press)<\/p>\n

This story<\/a> was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up<\/a> for their newsletters.<\/p>\n

Gov.\u00a0Gavin Newsom<\/a>\u00a0signed a set of bills this week meant to recognize incarcerated firefighters, including a historic measure to raise their pay to meet the federal\u00a0minimum wage<\/a>\u00a0during active fires.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The wage increase, funded through the state budget, follows years of advocacy to improve pay and working conditions\u00a0for incarcerated labor<\/a>. That effort took on a new urgency after hundreds of incarcerated firefighters were deployed to battle\u00a0deadly wildfires<\/a>\u00a0that hit Los Angeles in January<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

State lawmakers this year introduced a seven-bill \u201cFirefighting to Freedom\u201d package to protect incarcerated firefighters and support job opportunities upon their reentry. Five of those bills were signed into law on Monday, marking the most comprehensive changes to incarcerated firefighting in the state\u2019s history.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Incarcerated firefighters previously earned between $5.80 and $10.24 per day, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. During active emergencies, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection pays them an additional $1 per hour. Now, they will earn $7.25 per hour when they\u2019re on a fire.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u200bThis is a historic and momentous day,\u201d Bryan said. \u201c\u200bThe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bryan initially\u00a0set out to raise wages<\/a>\u00a0for 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\u2019 Association over concerns of its potential fiscal impact on counties, which administer jails and could also face pressure to increase pay for incarcerated labor.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It received bipartisan support from nearly two dozen lawmakers.<\/p>\n

\u201cA number of years ago, when I worked for Cal Fire, you have never seen men work harder than with these crews,\u201d said Assemblymember Heath Flora at a legislative hearing in September. \u201cThere is not a system \u2014 there is not a program \u2014 better than the fire camps with Cal Fire and the state of California,\u201d said the Republican from Ripon, who co-authored the bill.<\/p>\n

Bryan introduced the bill after voters last year\u00a0rejected a ballot measure that would have ended forced labor<\/a>\u00a0in prisons and jails. It would have amended the state\u2019s constitution to repeal language that allows involuntary servitude as a form of criminal punishment, making work assignments voluntary.\u00a0<\/p>\n

California\u2019s incarcerated firefighters have long provided critical support to state, local and federal government agencies in responding to various emergencies, including wildfires and floods. They\u2019re voluntary assignments.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Over 1,800 incarcerated firefighters live year-round in minimum-security conservation camps, also known as \u201cfire camps,\u201d located across 25 counties in California, according to the corrections department. Those numbers have dwindled in recent years amid a declining prison population.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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,\u00a0Assembly Bill 1380<\/a>, did not reach Newsom.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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 \u201chuge progress.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor 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,\u201d Ramey said. \u201cWith these laws, we can change that story.\u201d<\/p>\n

The package of bills Newsom signed included:<\/p>\n

Assembly Bill 247<\/a>: Requires incarcerated firefighters be paid $7.25 per hour while actively fighting a fire.<\/p>\n

Assembly Bill 799<\/a>: Requires the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation pay a death benefit of $50,000 for the death of an incarcerated firefighter.<\/p>\n

Assembly Bill 812<\/a>: Requires the corrections department to create regulations around referring incarcerated firefighters for resentencing.<\/p>\n

Assembly Bill 952<\/a>: Requires the corrections department to establish and expand the Youth Offender Program Camp Pilot Program as a permanent program.<\/p>\n

Senate Bill 245<\/a>: Streamlines and expedites the expungement process for formerly incarcerated firefighters.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s incredibly heartening to see that the Legislature has taken the issue of protecting incarcerated firefighters seriously,\u201d said Taina Angeli Vargas, executive director of the nonprofit organization Initiate Justice Action, which co-sponsored most of the bills. \u201cIt\u2019s about time that the state of California began to treat them with more respect and dignity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Assemblymember Sade Elhawary, a Democrat from Los Angeles who authored the law to establish and expand the youth pilot program, said it\u2019s an opportunity for the 13 other states that have incarcerated firefighters to \u201cfollow in the footsteps of California.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope this is the beginning of what will be a national movement to elevate the rights and opportunities for incarcerated firefighters,\u201d she said. \u201cAll of these folks deserve more love and support.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0CalMatters<\/a> is a nonpartisan and nonprofit news organization bringing Californians stories that probe, explain and explore solutions to quality of life issues while holding our leaders accountable.<\/p>\n

READ NEXT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Inmate firefighters dig a firebreak as the Thompson fire burns on July 2, 2024, in Oroville. (File photo…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6866,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,4330,457,7134,721,3000],"class_list":["post-6865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-firefighter","tag-gavin-newsom","tag-incarcerated","tag-law","tag-wildfire"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6865"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6865\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}