Legislation to allow federal fire fighters to exchange shifts without impacting their pay was passed unanimously by the U.S. House of Representatives last week.


The bill, H.R. 3243, was introduced by Representative John Sarbanes (D-Md.) to rectify a loophole in the law that prohibited federal fire fighters from swapping shifts outside a pay period in the way that many municipal firefighters do. 



The bill had previously been approved by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, where it was championed by Subcommittee Chair Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) and enjoyed broad bipartisan support.