On June 10, Representative Josh Harder (CA-9-D) and Reps. Scott Franklin (FL-18-R) and Joe Neguse (CO-2-D) introduced the Modernizing Wildfire Safety and Prevention Act, the culmination of a lot of hard work from the bill sponsors and a diverse group of stakeholders.
- The full bill text is available here.
- A one-pager outlining the highlights of the bill is available here.
- Rep. Harder's press release (that includes a quote from GAC Chair Mary Jo Flynn Nevins) is available here.
If enacted, the bill would codify some of the recommendations included in the Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission's recent report. In addition, the sponsors -- at the request of IAEM, NEMA, and BuildStrong -- agreed to roll the Wildfire Response Improvement Act (HR 7070) and the Disaster Management Costs Modernization Act (HR 7671) into the bill. IAEM had previously endorsed both of these bills. The language from HR 7070 can be found on page 25, line 7, and the language from HR 7671 can be found on page 20, line 1.
Drafting legislation is rarely easy, but Reps. Harder, Franklin, and Neguse went above and beyond to be responsive to all interested stakeholders in drafting this comprehensive bill.
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Thad Huguley
Government Affairs Director
IAEM
Falls Church VA
(615) 870-9316
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