Brothers and Sisters,

IAFF Legislative Conference: Fighting for Firefighters, Together Across the Aisle

The IAFF Legislative Conference convenes in Washington, D.C., to lay out the legislative agenda for the upcoming session. The current political climate is volatile and highly partisan, making it difficult to navigate. Firefighters, however, have long worked with both parties and engaged politically to achieve support, and more importantly, votes, for the issues that matter to our members.
 
Most recently, during the last administration, the repeal of the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) was signed into law. As a result, members who worked jobs that included Social Security will now receive the full Social Security benefits they earned through their credits. This legislation had been worked on through multiple administrations and required bipartisan support and the signature of President Joe Biden to become law, and we got it done.
 
Under the current administration, we continue to face challenges that require careful navigation. Our work remains focused on advocating for the issues that impact our members and their families. Nothing is handed to us freely; we fight for every gain that protects firefighters.
 
Once again, the IAFF worked both sides of the aisle, and President Donald Trump signed the Honor Act, recognizing cancer as a presumptive line-of-duty cause of death for firefighters. This law removes the burden of having to pinpoint specific exposures and extends Public Safety Officer Benefits (PSOB) to survivors.
 
This federal recognition has been a long time coming and required bipartisan cooperation in a divided Congress. Leadership on the bill came from Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), along with Reps. Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.) and Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.).
 
We thank members of both parties and both administrations, and we thank both Presidents for signing these impactful pieces of legislation that IAFF unions from the United States and Canada, representing 364,143 members, worked tirelessly to achieve.
 
Looking ahead, what will we work on next? You can preview the priorities in theIAFF Legislative Issues Book.
 
We also want to recognize Charlie Martinez, who represents Federal Firefighters in California through the California Professional Firefighters (CPF) as the 5th District representative. Charlie works tirelessly on behalf of California’s federal firefighter locals to advance their issues, many of which have long lagged behind and remain deeply concerning.
 
Charlie helped bring federal firefighters to Local 1014’s union hall when then–Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh joined us for a full day of discussions about cancer presumption for federal firefighters. Those conversations led to administrative changes aimed at improving cancer recognition for the men and women who fight fires and run EMS, just like firefighters across the country.
 
Now, with the HONOR Act signed into law, that work continues to move forward. Our Local is proud of the strong relationship we have with our federal firefighter brothers and sisters, and we will continue to stand with them at the national level as they navigate an uncertain future. The U.S. Fire Administration is currently being reestablished, and the path forward will bring many challenges and opportunities as that process unfolds.
 

You can also watch excerpts from the Alfred K. Whitehead Legislative Conference on Facebook, Instagram, and the IAFF website.