After two years of fighting, Congressman Mike Thompson and 218 members of Congress have successfully advanced a discharge petition that will force House Speaker Mike Johnson to bring the Federal Disaster Tax Relief Act to the House floor for a vote.
The Fire Victim Trust was established in 2020 and reviews claims, issues determination notices daily and disburses payments twice a month to fire victims for economic and non-economic damages caused by the 2015 Butte, 2017 North Bay and 2018 Camp Fires, according to the trust's website. This includes destruction or damage to property, additional living expenses, lost wages, business losses, emotional distress and more.
The website noted that $19.3 billion has been awarded in determination notices and $12.4 billion has been paid to claimants as of May 15.
The bill would exempt thousands of qualified wildfire victims in California – including PG&E fire victims – from having to pay on attorney fees that are included in the settlement. The relief would also apply retroactively to qualified victims, according to a press release from Thompson.
"Fire survivors have been through enough in the wake of losing their homes and livelihoods to wildfires," Thompson emphasized on Wednesday. "It's wrong to tax them on the settlement money meant to help them rebuild their lives. Today's historic discharge petition reaffirms the House's strong, bipartisan support for survivors and sends a clear message to Republicans who have stopped this bill in the Senate.
"It's time to work with us to pass much-needed relief for disaster victims."
The bill will exclude from taxpayer gross income any amount received by an individual taxpayer as compensation for expenses or losses incurred due to a qualified wildfire disaster declared after 2014 as a result of a forest or range fire.
Additionally, it will exclude relief payments or losses resulting from the Feb. 3, 2023, East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment and designates Hurricane Ian, among other federally declared disasters, as a qualified disaster for the purposes of determining the tax treatment of certain disaster-related personal casualty losses.
The release noted that this marks only the third time a House discharge petition has succeeded in the last 22 years. The motion will now enter a waiting period for seven legislative days after which any signatory may call it up for a House vote.
Once called, the motion must be scheduled for a vote within two legislative days.
In February, the bill passed the House as part of the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024. The bill had been held up in Congress for over two months at the time.
To learn more, visit firevictimtrust.com.
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