COACHELLA VALLEY, CA- Over the weekend former President Donald Trump made a campaign stop in Coachella Valley, during the speech the former president threaten the governor of California if reelected to withhold aid for wildfires if he was noncompliant on other issues.
“So, we’re going to take care of our farmers. We’re going to take care of your water situation, and we’ll force it down his throat. And we’ll say, “Gavin, if you don’t do it, we’re not giving you any of that fire money that we send you all the time for all the forest fires that you have.” It’s not hard to do. We just had so many other things to do. I was working on two Russia hoaxes, I was working on impeachments, I was working on indictments. They went out of their way to keep me busy, because they didn’t want this to happen. They didn’t want this. It could have happened to nobody else, believe me.”
For us in eastern Washington, that was a reality in 2020 when the former president refused to deploy aid to the demolished City of Malden following the Babb Road fire.
The fire destroyed nearly 80% of the town.
a major presidential disaster declaration was prolonged in being granted. Multiple lawmakers on all sides of the aisle wrote letters of support encouraging the former president to approve the disaster declaration.
As a result Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R) spearheaded legislation in the house titled “The Malden Act,” the initial legislation would have required the president to approve or deny a disaster declaration request within 30 days. If the request is not denied within 30 days, then it is approved. Now years after the fact, and with the congresswoman preparing to retire from office the Malden Act, in its current form, with modifications no longer including time requirements for the president, has just exited committee. Meaning it needs a full floor vote. It’s unclear if the speaker of the house will call for that vote. The bill both the senator and the congresswoman are sponsoring entails:To serve as a bridge and require FEMA resources to hit the ground running, day one following a natural disaster.Allow for interim assistance before the approval of the major disaster declaration, something that can take weeks.It will also require FEMA teams to work with states to dispense resources quicker, like case workers and non-monetary resources.In early 2024 the City of Malden was in the process of finishing construction on the new City Hall and fire station.
