Sherman, Newsom meet in Washington to Discuss Fire Recovery
Washington, DC – Today, Congressman Brad Sherman (CA-32) met with California Governor Gavin Newsom to discuss obtaining federal aid for victims of the Palisades and Eaton Fires.
“I’m gratified that the Governor has spent so much time and attention both on the fires in January and in fighting for communities and individuals in the months since then.
First, I should also commend the Biden administration, which in its final days put into motion actions that have already delivered more than $7 billion of federal assistance to the State of California to recover from the fires – $5 billion for debris cleanup being the largest share. For individual fire victims, some 35,000 households have received assistance from FEMA and some 12,500 low-cost SBA loans totaling over $3 billion have been approved. For all Trump’s bluster, he neither added to nor blocked implementation of the steps the Biden administration put into place.
Clearly, California should receive more on top of the basic package of benefits that fire victims have already been approved for, and Governor Newsom and I are working to secure a supplemental appropriations bill for additional federal aid especially directed to fire victims who lost their homes and were not adequately insured. I support the Governor’s supplemental request to Congress, particularly the portion of the request that seeks $9.9 billion to fund grants to those with uninsured losses. Such grants are handled through the Community Development Block Grant—Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program.
Things in Washington have been moving more slowly than they should. It is past time for Congress to pass a supplemental appropriation to help the victims of the largest fire, in terms of economic cost, in the history of America.”
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