One Year After the Eaton Fire, Rep. Chu Remembers Victims and Continues Fight for Disaster Aid

WASHINGTON, D.C. – One year ago, the Eaton Fire forever changed the communities of Altadena and Pasadena. The second most destructive wildfire in California’s history, it scorched 14,000 acres, destroyed over 9,000 structures, most of them single-family homes, and took the lives of 19 of our loved ones, neighbors, and friends. An additional 440 individuals died across Southern California in the month following the fire due to toxic air quality and delays in medical care. Those we lost made a profound impact on their communities, and the void their absence has left can never be filled.

Today, Rep. Chu spoke on the House Floor to honor the victims and demand federal disaster assistance on the one-year anniversary of the fire. 

Image

Rep. Chu delivers floor speech on Eaton Fire, click HERE or above to watch

Rep. Chu also partnered with Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) to introduce a resolution honoring all the lives lost in the Eaton and Palisades Fires, commending the heroic actions of first responders, and underscoring Congress’s commitment to helping Southern California communities rebuild.

Joining Reps. Chu and Sherman, this resolution is cosponsored by all 41 additional House Democrats from California. 

While tremendous progress has been made in our community’s recovery, we need federal disaster assistance to support our long-term recovery. Families have already waited a year while rebuilding costs rise, housing shortages deepen, and displacement assistance expires.

President Trump and congressional Republicans have a duty to help communities devastated by natural disaster, whether that be California, Texas, or North Carolina. Rep. Chu is working with bipartisan Members of Congress from California to urge President Trump to immediately and fully deliver Governor Newsom’s $33.9 billion supplemental request. She joined Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA), Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA), Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA), Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), and the entire bipartisan California delegation in a letter to the President supporting assistance for our recovery. This funding is essential to ensuring that our communities can continue to recover, rebuild, and heal. 

Today, Rep. Chu also co-led a letter with Rep. George Whitesides (D-CA) to President Trump demanding he work with Congress to deliver disaster supplemental for California. 

To reinforce the need for this assistance and to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the LA fires and the lives they took, Rep. Chu also hosted a press conference with members of the California delegation to underscore the dire need for President Trump to act with urgency and provide disaster aid to California as he promised to do so directly one year ago. 

Image

Rep. Chu leads California delegation in press conference marking the 1 year anniversary of the Eaton Fire, click HERE or above to watch

Every day that President Trump and congressional Republicans refuse to take up Governor Newsom’s disaster supplemental request, survivors will continue to suffer. That is why Rep. Chu introduced H.R.6842, the Disaster Survivors Tax Relief and Recovery Act, to codify the tax provisions of Governor Newsom’s request to address critical gaps in the federal tax code that are impeding recovery for survivors of the Eaton Fire and other major disasters.

Specifically, the Disaster Survivors Tax Relief and Recovery Act would:

• Ensure the wildfire disaster settlements are excluded from taxation
• Remove penalties for survivors who withdrew up to $100,000 from their retirement plans and double the amount survivors can withdraw from their employer plans (401K, etc.) without being penalized from $50,000 to $100,000
• Provide an infusion of Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) to spur rebuilding in impacted communities
• Providing survivors a more generous refundable Child Tax Credit and/or Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) by allowing them to use their 2024 income if it is lower than their 2025 income.
• Increases charitable deduction limitations for qualified disaster relief donations and contributions.
• Allow survivors to claim disaster-related losses without the standard income limitations 

This bill is cosponsored by: Reps. Pete Aguilar (CA-33), Nanette Diaz Barragán (CA-44), Julia Brownley (CA-26), Salud O. Carbajal (CA-24), Jim Costa (CA-21), Mark DeSaulnier (CA-10), Laura Friedman (CA-30), John Garamendi (CA-08), Robert Garcia (CA-42), Sara Jacobs (CA-51), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (CA-37), Mike Levin (CA-49), Sam T. Liccardo (CA-16), Ted Lieu (CA-36), Zoe Lofgren (CA-18), Doris O. Matsui (CA-07), Dave Min (CA-47), Kevin Mullin (CA-15), Jimmy Panetta (CA-19), Nancy Pelosi (CA-11), Scott H. Peters (CA-50), Luz M. Rivas (CA-29), Raul Ruiz (CA-25), Linda T. Sánchez (CA-38), Brad Sherman (CA-32), Eric Swalwell (CA-14), Mark Takano (CA-39), Mike Thompson (CA-04), Derek Tran (CA-45), George Whitesides (CA-27).