Kamala Harris announces $600 million toward California wildfire recovery
Vice President Kamala Harris is greeted by from left, Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California and the state's governor Gavin Newsom upon her arrival at San Bernardino International Airport. Photo: Eric Thayer/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Vice President Kamala Harris announced Friday that the administration is committing $1.3 billion to disaster relief funding, including $600 million for California.
The big picture: Harris visited a fire station in San Bernardino, California, as part of the Biden administration's effort to display the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure deal.
- Harris announced that the $600 million funding would go to California after the state saw nearly 7 million acres lost due to wildfires in the past two years, Gov. Gavin Newsom said.
What she's saying: "Specifically, there will be $5 billion and more actually for wildfire preparedness and resilience. And it will include and this requires its own conversation, a pay raise for our federal firefighters," Harris said.
- ‘This is a subject that requires us to understand that when we as a country get in front of an issue, it is not because of any one leader or any one approach is because there’s collaboration is because there’s a recognition that the work that happens on the ground usually requires great skill. skill and hard work that should be rewarded," she added.