After the Fire USA brings wildfire survivors and community leaders — from frontier, rural, suburban, and urban communities alike — to Washington, D.C. We move together, demanding what is right, fair, and just for megafire survivors.
Megafire is a relatively new national crisis, and federal policy has not kept pace with the realities communities face rebuilding on the ground every day. Our work ensures survivor voices are heard and that federal laws, rules, and funding reflect what recovery actually requires.
Over the past eight years, we’ve been to Washington dozens of times — most notably helping secure more than $6 billion in disaster tax relief for wildfire survivors. And we are not done.
What We're Working On
H.R. 5366
Disaster Tax Relief
We are proud to report that H.R. 5366, the Doug LaMalfa Federal Disaster Tax Relief Certainty Act, has passed the U.S. Senate by unanimous consent. Named in honor of the late Congressman Doug LaMalfa, this bipartisan achievement protects disaster survivors by continuing the exclusion of qualified wildfire relief payments from federal income taxation and preserving disaster-related casualty loss deductions.
This victory belongs first to fire survivors who spoke up, organized, and refused to let these protections lapse. We are deeply grateful to Senators Adam Schiff, Rick Scott, and Ron Wyden, and Representatives Greg Steube, Mike Thompson, and Jimmy Panetta for carrying this work forward. Their bipartisan leadership proves that protecting survivors can bring Congress together.
CDBG-DR Reform
We are focused on reforming and codifying Community Development Block Grant–Disaster Recovery funding and ensuring jurisdictions are fully and promptly reimbursed for recovery costs. When federal dollars slow, recovery slows and families stay displaced longer. That is unacceptable.
Trusted, Nonpartisan Expertise
We provide subject-matter expertise to Members of
Congress across parties and chambers. To be clear: After the Fire USA is not for hire and
not for sale. We work for fire survivors, period.
Federal Advocacy
We are the most effective megafire policy + advocacy group in the nation. We do not back down. We understand politics. We do not play politics with the lives of survivors. When we fight, we win.
Disaster Tax Relief Advocacy
After the Fire USA was instrumental in securing more than $6 billion in federal disaster tax relief for wildfire survivors, ensuring that compensation for losses, damages, and recovery expenses is not treated as taxable income and does not jeopardize access to essential benefits like Medicaid or VA assistance.
We first raised this issue with Congressman Mike Thompson (D-CA) and Congressman Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) in October 2021 and have since led repeated, survivor-centered advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill. Our work helped advance the Federal Disaster Tax Relief Act (H.R. 5863), which ultimately passed the U.S. Senate by Unanimous Consent in December 2024, with bipartisan leadership from following overwhelming House passage earlier that year.
We maintain strong, trusted relationships on both sides of the aisle and will continue to leverage them solely in service of disaster survivors.
To be clear: After the Fire USA is not for hire. We are not for sale. We work for fire survivors, period.
In the News
Video Presentation: Rep. Mike Thompson and Rep. Doug LaMalfa
At the 2025 Wildfire Leadership Summit, Jennifer Gray Thompson of After the Fire USA shared the powerful story behind passing the bipartisan Disaster Relief Tax Bill (HR 5863) — a landmark victory for fire survivors across the nation. Featuring messages…
US Senate passes long-awaited tax relief for fire victims
Story by The Press Democrat. “This is a huge moment of justice for disaster survivors, said Jennifer Gray Thompson, CEO of After The Fire USA, a key advocate for the legislation. “The direct impact on people’s lives is so profound”…
Disaster relief advocate calls for ‘urgency’ in Congress over tax relief legislation
Story by NBC News, Meet the Press. With just a few weeks remaining in the current session of Congress, After the Fire USA CEO Jennifer Gray Thompson joins Meet the Press NOW to discuss why it’s so critical for the…
Thank you to the offices we met with over the past few years:
House
- Rep. Adam Smith
- Rep. Brittany Pettersen (D-CO)
- Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA-41)
- Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA-48)
- Rep. David Joyce (R-OH-14)
- Rep. David Valadao (R-CA)
- Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-CA)
- Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO-05)
- Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA)
- Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-CA-23)
- Rep. Joe Neguse (D-CO)
- Rep. Julia Brownley (D-CA)
- Rep. Jill Tokuda (D-HI)
- Rep. Katherine Clark (D-MA)
- Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA-03)
- Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA)
- Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA)
- Rep. Young Kim (R-CA-40)
- Speaker Kevin McCarthy (former)
- House Committee on Ways & Means / Chairman
Senate
- Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA)
- Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO)
- Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)
- Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL)
- Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-CA, former)
- Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
- Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX)
- Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)
- Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT)
- Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA, former)
- Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO)
- Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI)
- Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS)
- Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ)
- Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA)
- Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI)
- Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
- Sen. JD Vance (R-OH)
- Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR)
- Senate Finance staff (D) and (R)
Other
- U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation
