• On Jan. 16, Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) called out House Republicans for repeatedly suggesting their interest in obstructing delivery of federal disaster aid to Southern California. “What makes these families different from families we have helped after hurricanes, tornadoes, or floods? To suggest that we should hold hostage the aid we give American families—families who have lost everything—is wrong and un-American,” Carbajal said, addressing Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, (D-Louisiana), according to a statement from the congressman’s office. Carbajal highlighted a recent report by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace that found that families in Florida, Louisiana, and Texas received the most federal disaster aid over the past decade—relief that was provided without political conditions or policy riders, according to the congressman’s office. “Mister Speaker, I rise today to say—Los Angeles, we are with you. Our hearts are with every single family who has lost a loved one, a livelihood, or some part of their community. We also give thanks to the heroic first responders working to contain these fires and help those in need. But I also rise to ask, Mister Speaker: Are these families not Americans?” Carbajal said in his remarks. “Just look at what has been approved over the past decade, especially for so-called red states, I might add. Have we ever said that those families should be punished for their state’s political choices? Absolutely not. I am appalled and frankly sickened at calls for conditioning aid [to] these American families. They are crying out for help. Congress should respond, without hesitation or delay.” Carbajal noted that he represents many of the California firefighters who have been deployed to Los Angeles County to help fight multiple deadly fires across the region.
• As devastating wildfires rage across Southern California, U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California) introduced a package of three bipartisan bills to strengthen wildfire resilience and rebuilding efforts, according to a Jan. 17 statement. The fires that broke out on Jan. 7 have killed more than two dozen individuals and destroyed more than 12,000 structures. Two of the fires, the Palisades and Eaton fires, have burned more than 40,000 acres, as of Jan. 17, according to the senator’s office. “I’ve spent the last week seeing firsthand the devastation caused by the fires ravaging Southern California—people who have lost loved ones, families who have lost the homes their children and grandchildren grew up in, and businesses and places of worship reduced to rubble,” Sen. Padilla said in the statement. “These bills would improve readiness, response, and recovery for disasters that are becoming all too common across the county, from expanding and expediting disaster housing options to investing in essential prepositioned firefighting forces. And we must make sure the federal firefighters laying their lives on the line to protect our communities are given a permanent pay raise.” The first bill, the Wildland Firefighter Paycheck Protection Act, would prevent attrition and provide long-term workforce stability. Specifically, the bill would permanently increase federal wildland firefighter pay, establish a new pay scale for wildland firefighters, establish additional pay supplements for wildland firefighters, and require consistency in agencies’ policies related to work-life balance, according to Padilla’s office. Padilla’s second bill, the Fire Suppression and Response Funding Assurance Act, co-led by Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), would ensure that pre-deployed state and local fire suppression assets are eligible for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Fire Management Assistance Grants and allow flexibility for the federal cost share of such grants to be increased beyond 75 percent. The third bill, the Disaster Housing Reform for American Families Act, sponsored by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana), would expedite, expand, and improve temporary housing available to victims of disasters like wildfires and storms.
This article appears in Jan 23 – Feb 2, 2025.