This week, President Biden approved California’s request for a major disaster declaration for communities across the state impacted by recent storms and flooding. I am grateful the President and his administration quickly approved the request, as it allows Central Valley families, business owners, and farmers to access desperately needed federal relief funds.

If you live in Kern or Tulare counties, you can apply for individual disaster assistance from FEMA:

 Apply online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov.

          Call the application phone number at 1-800-621-3362 (TTY: 800-462-7585)

Additional information about disaster relief programs can be found below:

FEMA Individual Assistance Program 

FEMA Individuals and Household (IHP) Program

Agricultural Flood Recovery Resources (USDA and CDFA)

Applying for SBA Disaster Loans: 

First register with FEMA: https://www.disasterassistance.gov/

Then apply online for SBA assistance: https://disasterloanassistance.sba.gov/ela/s/

Filing deadline for physical damage – June 2, 2023

Filing deadline for economic injury – January 3, 2023

SBA is setting up an office in Visalia for in-person assistance:

SBA Tulare Business Recovery Center

309 W Main St, Ste 110, Visalia, CA 93291

Opens Monday, April 10 at 1:00 pm. Will be open Mon-Fri 8a-5p going forward.

For more information:

Sba.gov/disaster

1-800-659-2955

disastercustomerservice@sba.gov

If you have experienced weather-related damages or losses during these storms, it is critical to report them to your respective counties. Report storm-related damages using the links below:

Kings County Flood Damage Survey

Tulare County Flood Damage Survey

Kern County Flood Damage Survey

This week, I traveled to Arizona with a bipartisan group of lawmakers to see firsthand the ongoing crisis at our Southern border. During our trip, we received an operational briefing from the US Border Patrol Tucson Sector, toured the Raul Castro Land Port of Entry, and participated in a roundtable with local law enforcement for a discussion on how the border crisis is impacting local communities and met with the National Border Patrol Council. 

For too long, extremists on both sides of the aisle have blocked any real progress on reforming our broken immigration system and securing our southern border. I appreciated hearing directly from Border Patrol Agents and local law enforcement about the challenges they’re facing on the ground. What we’re seeing at our border is a humanitarian and national security crisis, and record amounts of fentanyl are coming across our border and harming our communities. I’m committed to working with my colleagues to find commonsense solutions.

Recently, Governor Newsom and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) proposed a mandate that half of all heavy vehicles sold in California must be electric by 2035. As Valley families and residents are being forced to deal with rising energy costs, the Governor and his administration continue to implement policies that will only make the problems worse. 

This week, I led my colleagues in a letter to Governor Newsom urging him to reverse course given the enormous economic consequences this policy would have. This misguided mandate will only make the trucking shortage worse, amplify our supply chain problems, and further stress California’s electrical grid.

You can read our full letter here. 

Last week, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 1 – the Lower Energy Costs Act. The United States has some of the greatest energy resources in the entire world. We should be utilizing these resources to create jobs, strengthen our national security, and lower prices for Valley residents. I was proud to join my colleagues to pass this much-needed legislation.

This week, I wrote an op-ed in the Bakersfield Californian to explain why the Lower Energy Costs Act is so important not only for the nation but for the Central Valley.

You can read my op-ed about H.R. 1 here. 

I want to wish everyone across the Central Valley a safe and happy Easter weekend with family and loved ones. 

Our question this week comes from Thomas. He asks:

“Do you think Governor Newsom can be persuaded to begin construction on much-needed water storage facilities across the state?”

Thank you for your question Thomas. For decades, critical water storage infrastructure projects like Sites Reservoir have been stalled, delayed, or abandoned while the Central Valley agricultural community struggles to access the water they need to feed the country and the world.

I and many others have been pushing the state for years to build more water storage so that we can make better use of wet years like the one we’re experiencing. Next Tuesday, the House Committee on Natural Resources will be holding a field hearing in the Valley about California’s water problems and the man-made shortages we find ourselves in during years of drought.

We need to cut red tape and move forward on water storage so that our communities are more resilient to drought. It is extremely frustrating to see all of this water being sent out to the ocean when we know eventually the rain will stop.

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