A Santa Barbara congressman is trying to improve job benefits for federal firefighters, which he says don’t match those for their local, or state counterparts. Democratic Congressman Salud Carbajal introduced HR 1174, a bill which would give federal firefighters the same disability and retirement benefits as city, county, and state firefighters.
Carbajal says federal firefighters currently have to jump through more hoops to prove that an injury or illness is job related, making it harder for them to get benefits. Firefighters have a higher incidence of certain medical issues like lung disease and cancer.
The legislation calls for giving federal firefighters parity in benefits with those at the local and state levels.
