Bipartisan California lawmakers urge House leaders to boost disaster relief funding

A bipartisan group of lawmakers from Orange County, Calif., are urging House leaders to include disaster relief funding in fiscal 2025 spending, highlighting wildfire damage in the state even as damage from Hurricane Helene on the other side of the country has heightened attention on the issue.

“We urge you to include disaster relief funding in FY 2025 government spending. While we were disappointed that full disaster relief funding was not included in the three-month continuing resolution, we request that you support such funding in ongoing full-year appropriations negotiations,” the five House members wrote Wednesday in a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), first shared with The Hill. 

“Disaster relief funding plays an essential role in supplying federal resources to areas impacted by natural disasters, such as wildfires, and it is our responsibility as lawmakers to ensure that our government is fully equipped to protect and rebuild our communities.”

Rep. Young Kim (R-Calif.) led the letter, joined by Reps. Katie Porter (D-Calif.), Lou Correa (D-Calif.), Mike Levin (D-Calif.), and Michele Steel (R-Calif.).

Funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) disaster relief fund (DRF) was included in a three-month stopgap government funding bill Congress passed and President Biden signed into law last week, allowing FEMA to use resources faster for disaster response over the next three months. 

But additional FEMA funding was notably excluded from the package, and the Orange County lawmakers said that more money is necessary.

“While we applaud the inclusion of $20 billion towards the DRF in the continuing resolution, more funding is necessary for both the DRF and FEMA given the accumulation of backlogged costs the DRF must reimburse before addressing the many natural disasters Americans across the country currently face,” the members said in the letter. “Beyond the DRF, the U.S. Forest Service has faced ongoing staffing shortages in the Cleveland National Forest, where the Airport Fire began, during peak wildfire season. Furthermore, no new funding was included for other important disaster relief programs like the Small Business Administration’s disaster loans and the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Program.”

“With the passage of a three-month continuing resolution without sufficient disaster relief funding, it is now even more vital for Congress to allocate necessary funding towards disaster relief programs, so the federal government can provide adequate assistance to those impacted by natural disasters. We ask that you support full disaster relief funding as you negotiate FY 2025 government funding,” the members wrote.

Negotiations on full-year spending are expected when Congress returns after the election. Government funding expires on Dec. 20.

Johnson has said that while Congress has already authorized the disaster relief funds needed for the immediate response to Helene — the storm that has ravaged multiple states from Florida up through western North Carolina and Tennessee — he signaled that more could be coming.

“The Congress will have to address it,” Johnson said of disaster relief for Helene on Wednesday on Fox News. “I mean, this is an appropriate role for the federal government. But to your point, Steve, we have to prioritize federal spending. We have a $35 trillion federal debt. … You have to handle federal emergencies. These are appropriate roles for the federal government. We ought to be doing it in a bipartisan fashion. And I certainly hope that we can get that done.”