Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
- Wildfires have ravaged Los Angeles for over a week.Some Republican lawmakers argued that aid to California should be conditioned on policy changes.Data shows California pays more in taxes than it receives in federal spending.
Los Angeles' wildfires spurred a political debate about whether California should continue receiving unconditional federal aid in the wake of the disaster.
Wildfires have ravaged LA for over a week, having burned through more than 40,000 acres, destroyed over 12,300 structures, and killed at least 25 people.
The scope of the damage and the severe impacts on the state's residents have prompted lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to participate in the conversation about whether the federal government should let more funds flow to help stop the wildfires.
Some Republican lawmakers have criticized the current aid going to California and supported conditional aid hinged on policy changes in the state. GOP Rep. Warren Davidson, for example, recently told Fox News that he supports more federal aid for wildfires, but policy changes like better forest management should accompany it.
"If they want the money, then there should be consequences where they have to change their policies," he said. Davidson also wrote on X on January 12 that California Gov. Gavin Newsom's executive order to help wildfire victims rebuild their homes was "reasonable," but he said more action is needed on water management and fire prevention.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson expressed a similar sentiment, telling reporters on January 13 that "there should probably be conditions" on any wildfire aid that California receives.
But despite those GOP criticisms of potential aid to California, data shows that the state has actually received less from the federal government than the taxes it paid.
The Rockefeller Institute of Government, a public policy think tank, found that in fiscal year 2022, California's federal tax receipts per capita was $17,731 while its federal expenditures per capita, excluding temporary COVID-19 spending measures, was $14,492 — or a difference of $3,239 taxes paid minus spending received. A dozen other states had higher values of taxes paid than federal spending distributed in a state per capita, including New York and Illinois.
You can hover over the map below to see what this looked like by state.
Some commentators pointed out the disparity between California's taxes and spending. Economist Paul Krugman wrote in a Substack post, which also highlighted similar data from the Rockefeller Institute, that California subsidizes states, "red states in particular, through the federal budget."
Even on the campaign trail, President-elect Trump hinted that future funding for wildfires could hinge on California's policies. "We're going to take care of your water situation, and we'll force it down his throat," Trump said of Newsom during an October campaign rally in California, referring to the state's water policies. "And we'll say: Gavin, if you don't do it, we're not giving you any of that fire money that we send you all the time for all the fire, forest fires that you have."
Trump posted on Truth Social on January 8: "One of the best and most beautiful parts of the United States of America is burning down to the ground. It's ashes, and Gavin Newscum should resign. This is all his fault!!!"
Newsom has pushed back on Trump and other Republican lawmakers' comments on the wildfires, recently telling CNN: "People are literally fleeing, people have lost their lives, kids lost their schools, families completely torn asunder, churches burning down, and this guy wanted to politicize it," referring to Trump.
The Trump transition team, along with Davidson and Johnson's offices, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
While it's too early to calculate the costs of the wildfire damage, a recent estimate from AccuWeather found the price tag could total between $250 billion and $275 billion. Local and federal governments would likely pick up some of the tab, BI previously reported, along with private and state insurers.
President Joe Biden also said during January 14 remarks that those impacted by the wildfires will receive a one-time payment of $770 to help them quickly purchase necessities.
"Although the federal government is going to cover 100% of the cost for the next 180 days for things like firefighter overtime pay, debris removal, temporary shelters, it's going to cost tens of billions of dollars to get Los Angeles back to where it was," Biden said. "So, we're going to need Congress to step up to provide funding to get this done."
