Spectrum News 1: 3 months after the wildfires, California still waits to see action on federal disaster aid request
By Cassie Semyon
It has been three months since wildfires ravaged parts of Los Angeles County, and state and local officials are still waiting to see how Congress will respond to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s nearly $40 billion request for supplemental funding to aid recovery.
Movement on Capitol Hill since Newsom’s Feb. 21 letter has been slow, frustrating California Democrats.
“We haven’t heard a lot of activity. I haven’t heard yet whether they’re going to continue to condition aid,” said Rep. Laura Friedman, D-Calif. “We would like to see that aid specifically called out so that we know we’re going to get relief to the victims who deserve it.”
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., the leader of California House Democrats, said she hasn’t heard much about the status of the request either, when asked by Spectrum News Wednesday.
The government funding bill passed earlier this year provided $22.5 billion in funding for FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund to provide financial support for recovery efforts, including restoration of public infrastructure, hazard mitigation initiatives, and provide financial assistance for eligible survivors.
It is essentially a band aid for a multibillion dollar problem.
Gov. Newsom’s office told Spectrum News Wednesday that a bipartisan, multi-state disaster supplemental aid bill is expected to be introduced later this spring or early summer to support impacted homeowners and renters, businesses, health and human services, and wildfire and watershed resilience.
But Republicans in the House have suggested for months that the aid could come with strings attached, and while those conditions have not been defined yet, leadership has suggested they could have absolutely nothing to do with fire mitigation and prevention.
“We’ve talked about conditioning the aid that will go there to policy changes. I think that is a common-sense notion that is supported by the vast majority of the American people who do not want to subsidize crazy California leftist policies that are dangerous for people,” said Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., during the House Republican retreat in early February.
“What the terms are and the details of that, we will be working out. But entwined in all of that is the concern about election security in California and voter ID is a matter that again comports with common sense that most American people see the value in and it’d be something we’ll be trying to advance,” he added.
On Tuesday, Spectrum News asked Johnson if he had reviewed Newsom’s letter and if he could provide an update on where the discussions on providing that funding stands. Johnson did not confirm he reviewed the letter and was noncommittal about the next steps.
“The California wildfires is something that it’s a request for supplemental emergency spending, and all of this is kind of wrapped together in all of the deliberations we’re making right now. Reconciliation is the most immediate and urgent thing on our plate, but we can walk and chew gum at the same time,” he said. “I’ll tell you that there’s some internal discussion about it, but it hasn’t advanced yet, but stay tuned on that.”
Rep. Scott Peters, D-Calif., suggested that the delay in funding is pure politics.
“I can’t imagine that other places in the country would face this delay if they were experiencing what California’s experience. I would never do this to one of my fellow countrymen, who was suffering from this kind of thing,” he said.
He said the suggestion by House Republican leadership to condition disaster aid to California is the first time he’s ever heard such a thing.
“We don’t talk about that with places like Louisiana, which suffers floods, and I never would,” Peters said. “Why they want to pick that battle, I’m not sure — but it’s the first time I’ve ever heard overt references to conditioning disaster aid.”
Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., took a more measured tone, seeming to hold out hope that wildfire funding can be achieved through bipartisanship.
“From wildfires in California, to hurricanes in the Southeast, natural disasters do not distinguish between red states and blue states, and neither should our support for fellow Americans in their time of need. Securing the disaster aid needed for California remains a top priority for me, and I will continue to push for additional disaster funding at every possible opportunity. I will also do everything I can to maintain bipartisan support for delivering additional relief for our state,” he told Spectrum News in a statement.
All nine Republican House members in the California delegation signed on to a letter to congressional leadership supporting Newsom’s request.
We reached out to Rep. Ken Calvert, who leads the Republican members of the delegation, to see where things stand with the request, but have not received a firm answer.
Read the full article here.