Right now, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) workers are battling one of the largest fires in California's history.
These heroes that are working long, punishing hours to protect lives and property — but they may not get paid for it.
Federal law caps the compensation that an employee can receive in a given budget year based on the agency's overall budget. And since since FEMA's disaster response funds have been exhausted by a wave of wildfires, hurricanes, and other disasters, FEMA employees may:
— Have to pay back overtime pay they earned for wading through the streets of Houston, battling wildfires in California, or working to restore Puerto Rico in the wake of this fall's hurricane.
— Not be compensated for new overtime work before the end of the year.
This no way to run a government and certainly no way to treat heroes working around the clock to protect our homes and property.
That's why we are calling on the two senior Members of Congress who oversee the US House's Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Communications to introduce legislation that would waive federal rules limiting overtime pay for affected employees in 2017 and ensure that FEMA heroes get the pay they've earned in future years.
We should be rewarding federal workers who go above and beyond the call of duty — not punishing them. Please sign the petition now and take a stand for fairness and a government that values its heroes.
