Proposals authored by Republican U.S. Reps. Jeff Denham and Mimi Walters, whose California districts have been in the thick of devastating wildfires during the past year, have been incorporated into the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, H.R. 1892, that President Donald Trump signed into law on Feb. 9.
As part of the new spending measure, Rep. Denham’s bipartisan Supporting Mitigation Activities and Resiliency Targets for Rebuilding Act, or the SMART Rebuilding Act, H.R. 4455, directs the Federal Emergency Management Agency to incentivize states and localities to invest in disaster readiness and resilience criteria for construction, among other activities. Denham introduced H.R. 4455 on Nov. 21, 2017 with cosponsor U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano (D-MA).
“Rebuilding the same structures in the same disaster-prone places without implementing improvements is a bad investment for everyone, especially the American taxpayers. My policies will provide resources and incentives for communities to plan ahead and mitigate future damages to save lives and taxpayer dollars,” said Rep. Denham, who serves on three House committees: the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the Agriculture Committee and the Natural Resources Committee.
Organizations involved with disaster mitigation and recovery welcomed enactment of Denham’s provision, including BuildStrong Coalition Executive Director Phil Anderson, who said the congressman’s “leadership and cooperation with the BuildStrong Coalition was critical in having these reform incentives realized as part of this historic agreement.”
“The federal cost share reform incentive represents a major shift in the disaster mitigation landscape and will help reverse the cycle of destruction in the United States while saving American lives and tax dollars,” Anderson said.
A provision by Rep. Walters from the California Wildfire Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2017, H.R. 4397, which she introduced on Nov. 15, 2017, offers tax relief for Californians recovering from wildfires. The bipartisan bill had 22 cosponsors, including several colleagues from her home state who were original cosponsors, such as Denham and U.S. Reps. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Ken Calvert (R-CA) and Mike Thompson (D-CA).
“I was proud to support a bipartisan, bicameral budget agreement that will keep the government fully operational and give our troops the resources they need to keep us safe,” said Walters, who serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the House Committee on Ethics. “I am particularly pleased that this budget deal includes my tax relief plan for victims of the recent California wildfires.”
Specifically, Walters’ provision would allow for those affected by the historic 2017 California wildfire season to deduct property damage costs from their taxes, take penalty-free withdrawals from their retirement accounts, and encourage others to make charitable contributions to those in need, according to a summary provided by Walters’ office.
“This deal is not perfect,” Rep. Walters said about passage of the overall spending package. “At the end of the day, this bill will keep government functioning long-term, help millions of Americans, and do right by our men and women in uniform.”