S. 306 (119th)Bill Overview

Fire Ready Nation Act of 2025

Science, Technology, Communications|Advanced technology and technological innovationsAtmospheric science and weather
Cosponsors
Support
Democratic
Introduced
Jan 29, 2025
Discussions
Bill Text
Current stageIntroduced

Held at the desk.

Introduced
Committee
Floor
President
Law
Congressional Activities
01 · The brief
Plain-English summaryWhat this bill actually does

<p><strong>Fire Ready Nation Act of 2025</strong></p><p>This bill provides statutory authority for existing wildfire response services of the&nbsp;National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and establishes new programs and collaborative efforts to improve fire forecasting and readiness.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>Specifically, in addition to other efforts, the bill directs&nbsp;NOAA to&nbsp;</p><ul><li>establish a coordinated fire weather services program to support readiness for and responsiveness to wildfires, fire weather, smoke, post-fire flooding and debris, and related hazards;</li><li>develop a digital presence to promote access to and use of the services, tools, data, and information produced by the fire weather services program;</li><li>establish a fire weather test bed to facilitate the evaluation and implementation of new capabilities, including through research and development on the use of uncrewed aircraft systems (commonly known as drones) to improve data collection;</li><li>conduct an annual assessment after the close of fire weather season to investigate data gaps and update systems as needed;</li><li>evaluate and update, as appropriate, the Automated Surface Observing System (the primary surface weather network in the United States) and the system used to rate the risk of wildfire; and</li><li>establish an Incident Meteorologist Service within the National Weather Service to provide on-site support before, during, and after significant weather-related events.</li></ul><p>The bill also exempts&nbsp;federal wildland firefighters, fire management response officials, and accompanying incident meteorologists and management teams from certain premium pay limitations.&nbsp;</p><p>Finally, the bill directs the Government Accountability Office to evaluate and report on the implementation of the fire weather services program, among other topics.&nbsp;</p>

Why people may split

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

Watch point

The next hurdle is reproducing that support in the other chamber.

<p><strong>Fire Ready Nation Act of 2025</strong></p><p>This bill provides statutory authority for existing wildfire response services of the&nbsp;National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and establishes new programs and collaborative efforts to improve fire forecasting and readiness.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>Specifically, in addition to other efforts, the bill directs&nbsp;NOAA to&nbsp;</p><ul><li>establish a coordinated fire weather services program to support readiness for and responsiveness to wildfires, fire weather, smoke, post-fire flooding and debris, and related hazards;</li><li>develop a digital presence to promote access to and use of the services, tools, data, and information produced by the fire weather services program;</li><li>establish a fire weather test bed to facilitate the evaluation and implementation of new capabilities, including through research and development on the use of uncrewed aircraft systems (commonly known as drones) to improve data collection;</li><li>conduct an annual assessment after the close of fire weather season to investigate data gaps and update systems as needed;</li><li>evaluate and update, as appropriate, the Automated Surface Observing System (the primary surface weather network in the United States) and the system used to rate the risk of wildfire; and</li><li>establish an Incident Meteorologist Service within the National Weather Service to provide on-site support before, during, and after significant weather-related events.</li></ul><p>The bill also exempts&nbsp;federal wildland firefighters, fire management response officials, and accompanying incident meteorologists and management teams from certain premium pay limitations.&nbsp;</p><p>Finally, the bill directs the Government Accountability Office to evaluate and report on the implementation of the fire weather services program, among other topics.&nbsp;</p>

Passage64/100

This bill has already passed one chamber, which is a stronger signal than introduction alone but still leaves another major hurdle ahead.

CredibilityPartial

How solid the drafting looks.

Contention62/100

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

02 · What it does

Who stands to gain, and who may push back.

Likely benefits vs burdens0% / 100%
Likely helpedLikely burdened

These are examples from the analysis, not a ranked list of the most-affected groups.

Likely helped
  • No clear beneficiaries surfaced yet.
Likely burdened
  • No clear downsides surfaced yet.
03 · Why people split

Why the argument around this bill splits.

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.
Progressive

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

Unclear
Centrist

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

Unclear
Conservative

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

Unclear
04 · Can it pass?

The path through Congress.

Introduced

Reached or meaningfully advanced

Committee

Still ahead

Floor

Still ahead

President

Still ahead

Law

Still ahead

Passage likelihood64/100

This bill has already passed one chamber, which is a stronger signal than introduction alone but still leaves another major hurdle ahead.

Why this could stall
  • The next hurdle is reproducing that support in the other chamber.
05 · Recent votes

Recent votes on the bill.

No vote history yet

The bill has not accumulated any surfaced votes yet.

06 · Go deeper

Go deeper than the headline read.

Included on this page

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

This bill has already passed one chamber, which is a stronger signal than introduction alone but still leaves another major hurdle ahead.

Unlocked analysis

Pro readers get the full perspective split, passage barriers, legislative design review, stakeholder impact map, and lens-based policy tradeoff analysis for Fire Ready Nation Act of 2025.

Go beyond the headline summary with full stakeholder mapping, legislative design analysis, passage barriers, and lens-by-lens tradeoff breakdowns.

Perspective breakdownsPassage barriersLegislative design reviewStakeholder impact map
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