Sen. Schiff demands reversal to FEMA cuts to California's earthquake retrofitting
As lawmakers in Washington D.C. battle over potential cuts to federal programs, one Senator from California is calling for millions of dollars to be reinstated into the budget for earthquake retrofitting.
On Wednesday, Sen. Adam Schiff wrote an open letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and Senior Official Performing the Duties of Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator, David Richardson, urging them to restore $33 million in canceled funding that would have gone to earthquake retrofitting in California.
"In California, earthquakes are not a question of if, but when," he wrote in part. "This funding is essential to the state's ability to adequately prepare for when the next major earthquake hits."
The cuts are part of a larger plan to restructure FEMA; President Donald Trump has suggested outright scrapping of the agency, or making it a support agency, as he believes the states should be in charge of funding at times of emergency.
While speaking to KCAL News' Amy Johnson on Thursday, Schiff said the cuts put Californians directly at risk.
"For example, if your building has a carport in it, that is often not particularly safe during an earthquake," Schiff said. "That means that hundreds and hundreds of these homes won't be retrofit."
Schiff also pointed to cuts to flood prevention by the Trump administration. Schiff, alongside fellow Senator from California Alex Padilla, claims that those cuts to the Army Corps of Engineers singled out blue states, and is "blatantly political."
"It's as awful, as politically blatant as that. The president doesn't believe citizens in blue states should be as protected as citizens in red states," Schiff said on KCAL News on Thursday.
The Trump administration has said the funds are allocated based on need.