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After months of delays tax bill for fire survivors is moving forward

House
The House Ways and Means Committee on Nov. 2, 2023.

Progress has been made on a bill that would keep disaster survivors from having to pay taxes on corporate settlement money.

After months of delays, the "Protect Innocent Victims of Taxation After Fire Act" passed out of the House Committee on Ways and Means this morning.

Jennifer Gray Thompson is CEO of After The Fire USA, a wildfire survivor advocacy group that campaigned for the bill.

“It was huge, but we are not done until we are done,” Thompson said.

Most North State residents received a tax extension last month and now have until Nov. 16 to file their 2022 taxes.

Thompson says she’s not certain the bill can become law by that time, but she’s hopeful.

The news was announced as fire survivors, legislators and representatives from PG&E’s Fire Victim Trust met on the steps of the state Capitol today to commemorate the upcoming 5-year anniversary of the Camp Fire.

Some Camp Fire survivors pay hefty federal taxes on settlement payments received from PG&E’s trust.

The bill would grant refunds on past taxes paid.

Jamie was NSPR’s wildfire reporter and Report For America corps member. She covered all things fire, but her main focus was wildfire recovery in the North State. Before NSPR, Jamie was at UCLA, where she dabbled in college radio and briefly worked as a podcast editor at the Daily Bruin.
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  • For years, wildfire survivors have asked the federal government to stop taxing settlement money from disastrous wildfires like the Camp and Dixie fires. A bill that would do just that is getting bipartisan support, but recent turmoil in Congress has delayed it.