Padilla, Tillis, Schiff and Curtis Press Congressional Leaders to Pass Long-Term Disaster Recovery Funding

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Alex Padilla, the senior senator from California, and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), along with Senators Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and John Curtis (R-Utah), urged Congressional leaders to include long-term disaster recovery funding in any supplemental appropriations package after the Administration's recent emergency funding request did not include desperately needed resources for communities to rebuild and recover following catastrophic natural disasters.

In a letter to Senate Committee on Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Vice Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the Senators identified natural disasters that have severely devastated communities across the country, specifically highlighting the Eaton and Palisades fires that impacted Los Angeles County.

"Over the last few years, natural disasters have devastated communities across the United States," wrote the Senators. "In 2025, fueled by wind gusts reaching up to 100 miles per hour, the Los Angeles County wildfires burned over 40,000 acres, destroyed over 16,000 structures, forced tens of thousands of residents to evacuate, and claimed more than two dozen lives. During the response, California mobilized more than 15,000 personnel, including firefighters, National Guard members, highway patrol officers, and transportation teams, to contain the fires and protect communities. For comparison, these wildfires burned an area nearly three times the size of Manhattan. The scale and severity of these wildfires underscore the urgent need for additional federal assistance, coordination, and funding."

The Senators urged long-term disaster recovery funding be included in any supplemental appropriations package moving forward, emphasizing the critical need required for fully rebuilding, as well as support needed for other natural disasters in North Carolina and Utah.

"These disasters have caused widespread damage across California, North Carolina, and Utah, affecting federal and state highways, critical public infrastructure, homes, and buildings," continued the Senators. "The scale and complexity of these events will require sustained federal support to help communities rebuild damaged infrastructure, restore essential services, and meet long-term recovery needs. Therefore, we strongly urge you to include long-term disaster recovery funding, like the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR), in any supplemental appropriations package to ensure communities have the resources needed to rebuild and recover."

Senator Padilla has fought relentlessly to secure and protect access to desperately needed disaster relief aid for families in California. In January, on the one-year anniversary of the devastating Eaton and Palisades fires, Padilla and Schiff and the Chairs of the Republican and Democratic Congressional Delegations - Representatives Ken Calvert (R-Calif.-41) and Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.-18) - led the entire bipartisan California Congressional delegation in urging Trump to provide overdue federal disaster relief funding and resources to help Los Angeles County communities rebuild and recover. In the immediate aftermath of the Los Angeles fires, Padilla and Schiff led 47 bipartisan members of the California Congressional delegation in successfully urging President Biden to grant Governor Newsom's request for a major disaster declaration to expedite timely relief to Los Angeles County residents impacted by these disasters. Early last year, Padilla, Schiff, Calvert, and Lofgren also led the entire bipartisan California Congressional delegation in urging Senior Congressional leadership to provide additional disaster relief funding and resources to help Los Angeles County communities rebuild.

Full letter is available here.

###