North Bay congressmen outraged that Trump hasn’t funded fire relief

November 18, 2017

Stunned that a White House request for $44 billion in disaster relief funds didn’t include a penny for fire victims in Northern California, two North Bay congressmen delivered a strong rebuke to President Trump on Saturday.

“These are Americans in a time of need, and the administration is supposed to be helping, not playing political games,” said Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena.

He and a fellow Democrat, Rep. Jared Huffman of San Rafael, are increasing the pressure on the White House to set aside the $7.4 billion that Gov. Jerry Brown is seeking for wildfire victims.

“We were sure hoping it would be in this package,” Thompson said, adding that Brown requested the $7.4 billion “far enough back that (the administration) had ample time to get it.”

Huffman said he is surprised by the “conspicuous absence” of wildfire relief funding in the appropriations bill that the White House asked for Friday, which designated money for victims of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria.

Both congressmen noted, however, that their districts had received help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Environmental Protection Agency.

“But when it comes to reimbursing us money, we just haven’t been able to get it,” Thompson said.

On Saturday, Thompson met with Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona (Riverside County), and officials from Santa Rosa and Sonoma counties, who are leading the recovery effort for the most destructive firestorm in state history.

Thompson is looking to Calvert, who sits on the House Appropriations Committee, for help securing the money he said is owed to North Bay residents.

The White House Friday asked Congress for $44 billion to help with hurricane relief, but also called on lawmakers to offset the cost of that aid by cutting budgets for rural economic development programs, state highways and the Army Corps of Engineers, among other services.

The request, which immediately set off controversy in Congress, came a day after the House passed a sweeping tax bill that would take away taxpayers’ ability to write off losses because of fires such as those in California.

Added to the elimination of middle-class tax deductions for interest on mortgages above $500,000, that amounted to a big black eye for California — a state where wildfires rage every year and real estate prices are high, Huffman said.

“They’re going to raise Californians’ taxes, and now, unless we get this (disaster relief) thing turned around, they’re going to leave us high and dry on disaster costs,” he said.

California members of Congress have until mid-December — when the current government funding agreement expires — to secure the wildfire relief money. The clock is ticking, Huffman said, and he and other Democrats are still trying to rally support among their Republican colleagues.

While delegations in Texas and Florida started a bipartisan effort to help repair the hurricane damage in their states, California Republicans have largely been silent on the effort to rebuild in Napa and Sonoma counties.

Rep. Ed Royce of Fullerton (Orange County) was the only one of the state’s 13 Republican members of Congress to sign Brown’s letter with the $7.4 billion request.


Source: by Rachel Swan