Thank you for signing up to get involved with Fairness for Fire Victims (FFV). My name is Mike Yates. I’m a life-long resident of Northern California, President of Teamsters Local 665, and a passionate advocate for wildfire victims. It’s my honor to serve as Director of FFV.
As you know, FFV is a grassroots coalition advocating for victims of the Northern California wildfires of 2015-2018. We already have a broad coalition of supporters committed to helping achieve our goal – and that list is growing. I am thrilled to see momentum building around this important effort.
As we continue to build this momentum, I want to take a step back to walk you through the issue we are facing and our proposal to fix it:
As of this writing, the Fire Victim Trust will be able to compensate victims of the 2015-2018 Northern California wildfires for only 70% of their total losses – leaving a $6 billion shortfall.
In 2019, California established the $21 billion California Wildfire Fund to ensure that future wildfire victims can recover 100% of their losses. The bill that established this fund is known as AB 1054.
AB 1054 was inspired by the plight of the 2015-2018 wildfire victims. But inexplicably, it excludes these victims from the California Wildfire Fund.
We are proposing a simple and common sense fix: Open the California Wildfire Fund to 2015-2018 wildfire victims to cover the $6 billion shortfall.
This fix will have zero impact on the state budget and can be done in a way that will preserve the health of the California Wildfire Fund for future needs. It is a true win-win.
While the road ahead may be winding – and there is no guarantee we will be successful – I am committed to doing everything in my power to get this done for the victims and their families.
In solidarity,
Mike Yates
Director, Fairness for Fire Victims
P.S. When you get a chance, I encourage you to check out our website, FireFairness.org, to find additional information about our mission, share your story, and view the growing list of people and organizations who have joined our fight.
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