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A bill to give tax relief to fire victims passed the House of Representatives on Tuesday.
Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-04) applauded the House’s vote to pass the Federal Disaster Tax Relief Act (H.R. 5863).
The bill includes Thompson's legislation that would exempt thousands of qualified wildfire victims in California, including Pacific Gas and Electric fire victims, from having to pay federal income tax on their settlement money or pay tax on attorney fees that are included in the settlement.
This relief would also apply retroactively to qualified victims.
“Fire survivors have been through enough in the wake of losing their homes and livelihoods to wildfires — it’s wrong to tax them on the settlement money meant to help them rebuild their lives,” said Rep. Thompson on Tuesday. “Today’s bipartisan vote to provide tax relief to fire survivors is an important step towards recovery for those who lost homes, businesses, and loved ones and sends a clear message to Senate Republicans: It’s time to work with us to pass much-needed relief for disaster victims.”
Rep. Thompson serves as the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Tax for the Ways and Means Committee.
He introduced the original legislation to provide tax relief to PG&E fire victims in the 117th Congress and has worked to advance the legislation ever since.
Last week, Rep. Thompson and Rep. Greg Steube (FL-17) led a bipartisan group of 218 Members of Congress to successfully advance a discharge petition which forced House Speaker Mike Johnson to bring the Federal Disaster Tax Relief Act to the House floor for Tuesday’s vote.
The historic advancement of Rep Thompson and Rep. Steube’s petition marked only the third time a House discharge petition has succeeded in the 21st century.
The Federal Disaster Tax Relief Act excludes from taxpayer gross income, for income tax purposes, any amount received by an individual taxpayer as compensation for expenses or losses incurred due to a qualified wildfire disaster (a disaster declared after 2014 as a result of a forest or range fire).
It also excludes relief payments for losses resulting from the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment on Feb. 3, 2023 and designates Hurricane Ian, among other federally declared disasters, as a qualified disaster for the purposes of determining the tax treatment of certain disaster-related personal casualty losses.
The bill now goes to the Senate for a vote before going to President Biden’s desk for his signature.
Thompson represents California’s Fourth Congressional District, which includes all or part of Lake, Napa, Solano, Sonoma and Yolo counties.
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- Written by: LAKE COUNTY NEWS REPORTS
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The state has awarded $3 million for a highway project meant to reduce crashes on Highway 29 near Middletown in its latest round of transportation funding.
On Monday, the California Transportation Commission allocated $1.9 billion to support transportation infrastructure projects across the state, including the Middletown project.
The approved funding provides significant investments for bridges, roadways, transit, and improved facilities for people who walk and bike, the state reported. Also included are projects that will build or renovate shoreline embankments, bus, bicycle, and pedestrian infrastructure, and railroad overcrossings.
“California’s transportation infrastructure is critical to the economic and cultural lifeblood of our state, and this funding provides key support in our mission to provide a safe, equitable and sustainable transportation system for all users,” said Caltrans Director Tony Tavares.
The state said the latest allocations also include nearly $430 million from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, also known as the “Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” and $740 million via Senate Bill 1, the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017.
Since 2021, California has received more than $42 billion in IIJA funds, including more than $29 billion for transportation-related projects, officials said.
Regarding Lake County’s award, approximately $3 million in support allocations will go toward roadway and culvert upgrades and the installation of a radar feedback sign on Highway 29 from north of Butts Canyon Road to south of Grange Road near Middletown.
Manny Machado, spokesman for Caltrans District 1, told Lake County News that this safety project is located approximately 1.6 miles north of Middletown on Highway 29 between postmile 7.4 and 8.9.
“This project proposes to widen the roadbed to create a soft median with centerline rumble strips. The proposed work includes shoulder widening, roadway excavation, culvert extension, rumble strip, and pavement delineation,” said Machado. “The purpose of this project is to reduce traffic collisions.”
Machado said the 2018 Crossover Collision Monitoring Report identified this location as an area with crossover collisions that involve two or more vehicles traveling in opposite directions.
“Currently there is no median to create distance or separation between opposing traffic. In addition, existing shoulders are 4 feet wide, limiting the recovery area for errant vehicles and space for stalled vehicles, maintenance vehicles, maintenance personnel and non-motorized users,” Machado said.
He said construction is expected to start in May of 2028.
In addition to the Lake County project, the latest CTC-approved projects include the following:
• $27.4 million for the Interstate 405 improvement project in Los Angeles County.
• More than $4 million to repair bridge damage along Interstate 80 in Alameda County.
• $600,000 to replace the Ackerman Creek Bridge in Mendocino County.
• $1.2 million in support of allocations toward the construction of a left-turn lane, install lighting and other roadway improvements on U.S. 101 from the Rowdy Creek Bridge to Timbers Boulevard near Smith River in Del Norte County.
• $1.8 million in support allocations toward guardrail and other roadway safety improvements on U.S. 101 from north of the Wilson Creek Bridge to south of Crescent City in Del Norte County.
• $527,000 in support allocations toward revegetation mitigation and monitoring for culvert rehabilitation along U.S. 101 from south of Old Sherwood Road to north of Route 271 at various locations near Laytonville, Leggett and Piercy in Mendocino County.
• $28.5 million including more than $25.2 million in federal IIJA funding and $3.3 million in SB1 funding in support allocations toward roadway and guardrail improvements from south of Shimmins Ridge Road to north of Old Sherwood Road near Willits in Mendocino County.
• $830,000 toward roadway, guardrail, sign panels and Americans with Disabilities Act improvements on Route 128 from the Mill Creek Bridge to the Robinson Creek Bridge near Boonville in Mendocino County.
• $900,000 toward the construction of left-turn lanes, a merge lane and other roadway improvements on U.S. 101 from the Hopland Overhead to Mountain House Road near Hopland in Mendocino County.
• $1.1 million toward roadway, guardrail, lighting and other improvements on U.S. 101 from north of the Robinson Creek Bridge to the Pomo Lane Undercrossing near Ukiah in Mendocino County.
• $2.6 million in SB1 funding in emergency allocations toward roadway and culvert repairs and debris removal on U.S. 101 from north of the Newton Road Undercrossing and on Route 254 to north of Lum Street/Newton Road near Weott in Humboldt County following heavy rainfall that started on Feb. 14, 2024.
• $3.2 million in emergency allocations toward culvert and embankment repairs with rock slope protection along U.S. 101 south of Hookton Road near Loleta in Humboldt County following heavy rainfall that started on Jan. 9, 2024.
• $2.5 million in SB1 funding in emergency allocations toward culvert and embankment repairs, rock slope protection and erosion control on Route 1 north of Pacific Drive near Gualala in Mendocino County following heavy rainfall that started on Jan. 31, 2024.
• $4.5 million in SB1 funding in emergency allocations toward roadway and embankment repairs, rock slope protection and erosion control on U.S. 101 south of Route 271 near Leggett in Mendocino County following heavy rainfall that started on Jan. 31, 2024.
• $6.5 million in emergency allocations toward roadway, viaduct, retaining wall and culvert repairs and erosion control on Route 1 south of the Juan Creek Bridge near Rockport in Mendocino County following heavy rainfall that started on Jan. 31, 2024.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
LOWER LAKE, Calif. — The Lower Lake Community Action Group will help kick off the summer season with its “Lower Lake Daze” celebration on Memorial Day weekend.
The event, which will include a street fair and parade, will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, May 26, in downtown Lower Lake.
The parade will take place beginning at 11 a.m. along Main Street.
Dozens of vendors and local merchants will participate, along with food trucks and many family-friendly activities.
Come and celebrate hometown heroes.
For more information, visit www.lowerlakecommunityactiongroup.com.
The event, which will include a street fair and parade, will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, May 26, in downtown Lower Lake.
The parade will take place beginning at 11 a.m. along Main Street.
Dozens of vendors and local merchants will participate, along with food trucks and many family-friendly activities.
Come and celebrate hometown heroes.
For more information, visit www.lowerlakecommunityactiongroup.com.
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- Written by: LAKE COUNTY NEWS REPORTS
NORTH COAST, Calif. — Agencies from around the region participated in a search and rescue training in Mendocino County last week.
The Mendocino County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue Team and Napa County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue team hosted a three-day helicopter awareness training at the Lake Mendocino Spillway from May 17 to 19.
Lt. James Elmore of the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office said multiple search and rescue volunteers from Northern California were in attendance and learned valuable skills to assist them in their future missions.
Search and rescue organizations that were in attendance included Mendocino County Search and Rescue, Napa County Search and Rescue, Lake County Search and Rescue, Marin County Search and Rescue, Sonoma County Search and Rescue, Bay Area Mountain Rescue Unit and CAL-SAR.
Elmore said the training’s purpose was to teach search and rescue volunteers the skills necessary to safely interact with helicopters in a rural search environment. The training included instruction on how to safely approach and exit an aircraft and learning the capabilities of each specific aircraft.
Volunteers were able to practice being inserted and extracted from remote search areas and also practice safely packaging and loading victims onto the aircraft to be taken for medical treatment, Elmore said.
Numerous types and designs of helicopter airframes were utilized to maximize the exposure of search and rescue volunteers attending the training, according to Elmore’s report.
Elmore said the event would not have been possible without the financial support of the Mendocino Public Safety Foundation, numerous generous donations received from the public, and all local Rotary Clubs in Mendocino County.
The Mendocino County Sheriff's Office thanked the following agencies and companies for donating their time, equipment, or resources to make this training possible: U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, California Governor's Office of Emergency Services, Cal Fire, California National Guard, Sonoma County Sheriff's Office, Reach Air/Calstar, California Highway Patrol, Ukiah Valley Fire Department, Silva Septic, Forks Ranch Market and Big Earl's BBQ.
The Mendocino County Sheriff's Office also thanked the community and local residents for their cooperation, support and understanding during this training event.
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- Written by: LAKE COUNTY NEWS REPORTS