Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law Sunday night intended to narrow the pay gap between Cal Fire firefighters and their counterparts in city and county fire departments. The law does not explicitly promise a raise but requires the next governor to “bargain in good faith” toward lifting Cal Fire pay to within 15% of the average compensation at 20 fire departments around California.
A 2025 salary survey showed Cal Fire paid on average about 27% less than local fire departments. Cal Fire firefighters also work about 20 more days a year than their city and county counterparts. The total monthly compensation for a Cal Fire engineer was $21,700, compared to $26,500 for the same rank at a local department.
“This is a big one,” said Cal Fire Local 2881 President Tim Edwards. “The signing of this by Gov. Newsom is showing that he actually appreciates the men and women on the front lines of the megafires and the pandemic.” Last year, Newsom vetoed a similar proposal that was more direct in calling for raises at Cal Fire, writing in a veto message that the bill would “create significant cost pressures for the state and circumvent the collective bargaining process.” Officials estimated the bill would have cost between $373 million and $609 million in its first year.
The new law could have a similar price tag depending on how Cal Fire Local 2881 bargains with the next governor. The union’s current contract expires on June 30, about six months after Newsom leaves office. Assemblymember Heath Flora, a Ripon Republican, carried the version of the bill Newsom vetoed. He reintroduced it in a form that gave the governor’s office more power to negotiate. The bill passed the Assembly 77-1 and the Senate 40-0.
Edwards said it could take more than a year to close the pay gap, but he believes it could be accomplished over a two- or three-year contract. The law “actually mandates (the California Department of Human Resources) to come to the table in good faith and start negotiating a fair and equitable wage compared to our local government counterparts,” he said.
Cal Fire grew substantially during Newsom’s administration. The department had fewer than 6,000 firefighters as recently as 2019. Today, Edwards’ union represents some 9,500 firefighters. Only one state public employee union gets raises without having to bargain with the governor: The California Association of Highway Patrolmen.
By state law, California Highway Patrol officers receive raises through a formula based on compensation at five large California police departments. Newsom over the past week rejected two other bills that would have boosted compensation or changed retirement perks for police and firefighters, writing that it risked. He rejected a proposal last week that would have allowed them to retire younger and offered them more generous retirement formulas. Newsom wrote in a veto message that it risked weakening changes Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law 14 years ago that were meant to stabilize California’s public pension systems.
Then, on Sunday, Newsom vetoed a bill that would have allowed CHP officers and Cal Fire firefighters to access an alternative retirement plan. The bill would have let them stop contributing money toward their pension in the last five years of their careers and instead put the money in an investment account managed by the California Public Employees’ Retirement System. Upon leaving civil service, they would have been able to cash out that account in a single lump-sum check.
