Rep. Kiley says he is “confident” LA will receive federal disaster relief

California Rep. Kevin Kiley said Wednesday he is confident Los Angeles will receive federal disaster assistance. Kiley noted that House Speaker Mike Johnson’s use of the word “conditions” when discussing aid earlier this week was not “particularly helpful” given that the wildfires have killed dozens of people and destroyed homes and businesses across Southern California .

Earlier this week, Johnson told a group of reporters in Washington DC: “I think there should probably be conditions on this aid. This is my personal view. We’ll see what the consensus is.”

Johnson made the comments after highlighting the state’s problems with forest and water management, as well as questions about decision-making by the state and local leaders leading up to the fire.

“If that’s leadership, I have a different definition,” Gov. Newsom responded on MSNBC Tuesday night. “I meet American citizens who are in desperate need. What they need is care, compassion, understanding, they need support. No rhetoric. No strings attached.”

“We’re going to get people relief,” Kiley said in an interview with KCRA 3 on Thursday. “We have a responsibility — as we have with other natural disasters in other parts of the country — to send help. I don’t think the word ‘conditions’ is particularly helpful in this context. The way I see it, we need safeguards to ensure that the money and aid gets to the victims. That’s the approach I’m going to take, and I think that’s the core of the relief bill that we’re going to get.

When KCRA 3 asked Kiley whether any conditions or protections attached to the dollars would be related to issues outside of wildfire prevention, such as abortion or immigration, Kiley replied, “No, that will not be the case.”

“That would not be appropriate and I will not advocate for something like that,” Kiley said.

Kiley said it is likely that the federal government will play a larger role in overseeing California’s wildfire prevention and forest and water management efforts in the future.

“It’s really not common sense and we need to fix that,” Kiley told KCRA 3. “But this is something that has nothing to do with the suffering of the victims here and now in the L.A. area who need help .” from the federal government.”

Asked whether the Republican-led House of Representatives would be allowed to invite the leaders of California and Los Angeles to hearings on the fires in Washington DC, Kiley replied: “I don’t think I’m at liberty to have any news at the moment to spread, but I’ll just do it.” Say, keep an eye on your inbox soon.”

Kiley was part of a group of California Republican members of the House of Representatives who traveled to Mar-a-Lago last week to meet with President-elect Donald Trump.

Trump has received several invitations to travel to Los Angeles to view the devastating wildfires. One of those invitations came from Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is also overseeing a special legislative session he called to prepare California for legal battles with the incoming Trump administration.

When KCRA 3 asked if any of this was discussed at Mar-a-Lago and if it would have any impact at all on L.A.’s recovery efforts, Kiley said, “We haven’t looked into it too much.”

“I think the people of California should not be punished for the failures of their government,” Kiley said. “The victims in LA have already been punished, they have lost everything. They should not be punished again because we have poor political leadership in California. That’s how I see it, and I think that’s how the president sees it too.” Well, that we want to help the people of California.

Kiley said a key point discussed at the meeting with the new president involved state and local tax deductions to potentially reduce Californians’ tax burden.

“I was very encouraged, I think he understands what a hard blow this has been for people,” Kiley said.

For more coverage of California’s top stories, click here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter