[1]Alex Padilla for Senate

Imagine if, after Hurricane Helene, President Biden had said that he’d withhold disaster relief unless North Carolina changed their gun laws? Or Louisiana, unless they changed their abortion laws? Republicans would have come unglued!

But that’s exactly what Donald Trump, Mike Johnson, and other Republicans are now threatening in order to approve disaster aid for California.

Mike Johnson has gone even further, saying that they don’t want to “subsidize” California’s policies. That’s not just ridiculous, it's outright offensive.

Let me be clear:

California is by far the largest contributor to the federal government of any state.

Each year, we pay more to the federal government than we receive.

The opposite is true for Speaker Johnson’s state of Louisiana.

So as Trump and the Republicans use the threat of withholding disaster relief funding to accomplish their unrelated political goals, I hope they’ll remember who is subsidizing whom here.

Southern California is home for me. I know full well that Los Angeles County and our entire state has been there for every region of the country in their time of crisis without conditions. And now, during our time of crisis, we need the country, the federal government, to be there for the Los Angeles region with no strings attached.

Friend, despite Trump’s and Mike Johnson’s rhetoric, I'm encouraged by colleagues -- both Republicans and Democrats -- whose home states have been through disasters, beginning to come out and say that this idea of conditioning disaster relief is absurd.

My team and I are working hard to guarantee California has the resources it needs to fully recover from this disaster. It will be a long process, but we will do everything we can to make sure California builds back stronger than ever.

Thank you, and please stay safe.

- Alex

P.S. If you’re looking for a way to have a direct impact, consider chipping in to the California Community Foundation’s Wildfire Recovery Fund. They’re going to need our help as they support the families and communities rebuilding from the fire in the years ahead.




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