In the News
Federal firefighters face steep pay cuts over the next month as a 2021 salary increase expires Sept. 30 and lawmakers from both parties scramble to prevent a mass exodus from the rank-and-file.
WASHINGTON — Colorado’s eight U.S. House members and two U.S. senators spend most of their time in Washington working more than 1,600 miles away from the nearly 6 million people they represent.
So what are they up to?
With temporary pay hikes for federal wildland firefighters set to expire in the coming weeks, union officials are warning that the 15,000-member workforce could face a mass exodus if Congress fails to make the increases permanent.
Max Alonzo, national business representative for the National Federation of Federal Employees, said recently that many firefighters were likely to depart for higher paying jobs at state and municipal agencies, or power companies, once they reached the “pay cliff” — the point at which temporary raises end.
President Joe Biden on Wednesday mobilized 20,000 young people as part of a new American Climate Corps that will train the next generation of workers in using climate resilient strategies to conserve public lands.
Colorado Rep. Joe Neguse applauded the Biden Administration’s launch of a New Deal-style American Climate Corps on Wednesday.
Since entering Congress, Neguse has been advocating for a nationwide service program that trains the next generation of public lands managers, green energy and climate resilience workers.
WASHINGTON (AP) — After being thwarted by Congress, President Joe Biden will use his executive authority to create a New Deal-style American Climate Corps that will serve as a major green jobs training program.
The union representing federal wildland firefighters is warning of a mass exodus by the end of the month.
It says thousands of federal wildland firefighters could walk off the job by Sept. 30 unless Congress intervenes to prevent a 50% cut in pay.
Those impacted include some of the most skilled firefighters in the country, including the Alpine Hotshot Crew based in Rocky Mountain National Park.
Two years ago, as historic wildfires threatened lives and homes, straining local and state resources, Alpine Hotshots came to Colorado's rescue.
Congress is back from summer break, and lawmakers have just a couple of weeks to prevent a significant pay cut for thousands of wildland firefighters.
Elected officials and leaders at the University of Colorado Boulder and Colorado State University gathered on Wednesday in anticipation of CSU’s football team playing in Boulder for the first time since 2009.
Gov. Jared Polis, U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Lafayette, CU Boulder Chancellor Phil DiStefano and CSU President Amy Parsons met to voice excitement about the game and reflect on the off-the-field partnership between the two universities and its impact on Colorado.
A popular federal effort to protect threatened Western fish is in murky waters as stakeholders await Congressional action on reauthorization.
The Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program has for 30 years sought to restore four species that once thrived in the river: the razorback sucker, Colorado pikeminnow, bonytail and humpback chub. A sister effort, the San Juan River Basin Recovery Implementation Program, works to restore the same fish in the Four Corners region.