White House $44 billion Disaster Aid Bill Offers No Relief For Wildfire Victims
November 17, 2017 2:40 PM

WASHINGTON (CBS SF & AP) — The White House Friday sent Congress a $44 billion disaster aid request and it immediately came under attack from California’s two U.S. senators because it does not contain any relief for victims of the wine country wildfires.

In a joint statement, Senators Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris called the bill “appalling.”

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“To help with the recovery, there’s been a bipartisan effort between California’s congressional delegation and Governor Brown to secure $7.4 billion in federal funds for those devastated by the wildfires,” the statement continued. “Despite the Trump administration’s request, we’ll continue that effort to ensure enough funding is included for California in this aid package before it passes Congress.”

The request, President Donald Trump’s third since hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria slammed the Gulf Coast and Caribbean, would bring the total appropriated for disaster relief this fall close to $100 billion — and that’s before most of the money to rebuild Puerto Rico’s devastated housing stock and electric grid is added in.

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