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Five months after Maui fires, housing remains Lahaina’s biggest challenge in rebuilding efforts

Five months since the deadly wildfires in Lahaina, Hawaii, providing housing for displaced residents continues...

What happens after the fire

NPR's Pien Huang speaks to Jennifer Gray Thompson, founder and CEO of After the Fire USA, about what to expect from long-term recovery after a wildfire.

In Hawaii, concerns over ‘climate gentrification’ rise after devastating Maui fires

In Hawaii, concerns over ‘climate gentrification’ rise after devastating Maui fires...

NBC News Now: Nov 24, 2023. Dasha Burns

Hawaii Gov. Green Announces $150M fund for fire victims

Gentrification by Fire

Gentrification by Fire The West’s new climate is exacerbating housing inequality in the quintessentially blue state of California

Greenville rising from the ashes 2 years after Dixie Fire

Greenville rising from the ashes 2 years after Dixie Fire. The Dixie Fire tore through Greenville in 2021 and incinerated most of downtown.

Sonoma Group Forged in Tubbs Fire Helping Other Wildfire Victims Cope

Amid the crumpled, twisted remains of the Plumas County town of Greenville, few people stirred, ...

Amid the crumpled, twisted remains of the Plumas County town of Greenville, few people stirred, ...

Sonoma Valley resident, After the Fire CEO joining Rep. Mike Thompson at Biden’s State of the Union address

Forbes Profile: Jennifer Gray Thompson

Jennifer Gray Thompson

Stay Connected: Latest Updates from After The Fire’s Facebook page

After The Fire USA

2 weeks ago

TAX BILL ⁉️⁉️⁉️🤨😐The status of the Tax Bill is, well, anyone's guess. From what we hear today, the Senate does not have 60 votes (need 9 GOP) to pass, even though we were told weeks ago we had as many as 76 with 15 GOP supporting. The situation is dynamic and by next week, we could have the votes. We can't say and no one can. To be clear, it is not over for this year. Politics is too often a game of 🐎 trading when good bipartisan policy is called for to serve the American people. We are still on it. We are still in it. But we are already making plans for the next phase of fighting for all Fire Survivors who have a claim and who have been or will be unfairly taxed on your earned settlement funds.To be clear, if the Tax Bill doesn't pass, despite clear bipartisan support from the House, we will not back down from the fight. The intensely unfair part is it may take until 2025 to get it passed and this means those of you who filed taxes starting in 2021 will be unable to amend more than 3 years of your tax returns.We find this loss particularly unfair considering the first Fire Survivors of 2017 and 2018 have made huge strides and paid lessons forward, changed state and federal laws, fought insurance injustices, improved systems, and --- despite losing everything --- have given so much to all who came after. And it is these same folks who will lose at least one year of overpayment of taxes. It's wrong and infuriating. BUTWe will fight for the following years to claw that money back for you all. We've already booked a flight for May and we are talking to our bill leadership (Thompson, LaMalfa, Padilla) and Senate GOP opposition. We wanted to avoid being part of the 2025 Trump Tax Bill renewals fight in the midst of a fraught election year, but if that's the fight, that's the deal. You are worth the fight. We are not done. We are not out. We are here for and with you until this is done. We started this fight for the Tax issue in the midst of the pandemic via virtual meetings with DC and we are still here. Still at it. Until the end. You matter and we will never let it be forgotten. ... See MoreSee Less

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After The Fire USA

2 weeks ago

This is great news for Maui✌️🤙The County’s new Recovery Permitting Center is slated to open April 29, 2024, in Kahului, and a satellite location is in the works for Lahaina, the County of Maui announced Saturday. 4LEAF Inc. has been awarded the County contract to operate the soon-to-open center, which will have its primary location at the Maui County Service Center, 110 Alaihi St., Kahului. At the center, representatives from 4LEAF will be available to assist residents with the process of applying for Disaster Recovery Building Permits for alterations, repairs, reconstruction and new construction of structures in areas affected by the August 2023 Maui wildfires. “Bringing 4LEAF on board to run operations at our Recovery Permitting Center gives the County the capacity needed to support our residents and businesses as they rebuild,” Director of Public Works Jordan Molina said. “Their years of experience helping other communities navigate through the difficult process of rebuilding following fire disasters makes 4LEAF an invaluable partner in Maui’s path to recovery.”Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Pleasanton, Calif., 4LEAF Inc. is a professional Development Services Firm specializing in Fire Recovery Services. Over the past several years, 4LEAF has implemented fire recovery permitting programs for several counties and municipalities including the California’s County of Sonoma, Town of Paradise and County of Santa Cruz, along with Oregon’s Jackson County. The largest of those programs was a $9.5 billion fire recovery project in Paradise after the town’s 2018 wildfire that had been the deadliest in the United States in nearly 100 years until it was surpassed by last year’s devastating Lahaina wildfire. 4LEAF provided complete Community Development Services to the town for the first four years of the recovery project, which included 12,000 residential units, 400 commercial structures, and 3,000 accessory structures. “We are pleased to be selected to stand alongside the resilient communities of Lahaina and Kula during their time of need,” said Michael Renner, 4LEAF’s Project Manager. “This responsibility is one we accept with the utmost humility and a profound sense of duty.” Renner has headed all of 4LEAF’s four prior fire recovery programs. Among those joining Renner will be Maui’s Shaina Hipolito and Kaʻiawe Chun. “Shaina and Kaʻiawe are both very proud to serve their community,” Renner said. “We will be the first point of contact with the public and will manage the expediting of permits.” For more information on 4LEAF, Inc., visit www.4leafinc.com. In addition to the Kahului Recovery Permitting Center, a satellite office is being planned for Lahaina Gateway Center. The opening date for the Lahaina Gateway location will be announced at a later date. The opening of the Recovery Permitting Center comes after the County of Maui also recently launched a dedicated Housing section on MauiRecovers.org aimed at providing critical assistance to homeowners and renters impacted by the wildfires. The newly unveiled platform, accessible at www.MauiRecovers.org/housing, offers a comprehensive array of resources tailored to address the housing needs of individuals and families navigating the aftermath of the disaster. On the webpage, fire survivors can find information on temporary housing programs, as well as resources regarding construction of temporary units and permanent housing in wildfire-affected areas. ... See MoreSee Less

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After The Fire USA

3 weeks ago

County of Maui Mayor Richard Bissen offered a statement after receiving the state Attorney General and the Fire Safety Research Institute (FSRI) Maui Wildfire Phase One Report finding and timeline today, April 17, 2024. “We understand the state Attorney General’s investigation and the hard work that Fire Safety Research Institute put into describing the nation’s worst wildfire disaster in modern history,” Mayor Richard Bissen said. “Today’s Phase One report can help piece together what other fire-stricken jurisdictions have called the most complex megafire they have ever seen.” “While the investigations and studies can be helpful, the pain, trauma and suffering that our residents have endured continue to be our primary focus,” he said. “I remain committed to bringing Lahaina residents back home so they can take additional steps toward healing.” The County’s Department of Corporation Counsel today said it agrees with the state Attorney General’s assessment that County first responders were nothing short of heroic throughout the incident, adding that employees’ noteworthy efforts continue through this day. “In the brutal aftermath of this tragedy, County personnel have maintained the operations of County infrastructure and systems even while they also grieve, re-orient their lives, and recover physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually,” the department said.The County’s complicated recovery includes various investigations and legal obligations. Today’s report is separate from the forthcoming cause and origin investigation led by the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and distinct from internal after-action reports. Also, the County has obligations to more than 135 individual plaintiff and class-action lawsuits filed in three different courts. In its participation in the state Attorney General’s investigation, the county delivered the following:- Approximately 8,000 video and media files- Nearly 50,000 pages of responsive documents- 118 gigabytes of data- 150 technical interviews and site visits with county personnel (including more than 100 personnel who required union representation)- Fulfilled more than 175 different categories of requestsMayor Bissen said that this report and others will help local, state and jurisdictions countrywide better prepare for life-altering disasters. “The most important part is how we prevent, how we mitigate, how we can prepare for future disasters,” Mayor Bissen said. ... See MoreSee Less

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After The Fire USA is at Reality of Life.

3 weeks ago

😡🤬😤Senator Wyden (D-OR) Statement on Tax Bill DelayAPRIL 15,2024Wyden Calls on Senate to Pass Bipartisan Tax Bill, Says Kids & Small Businesses Cannot Wait on Senate RepublicansAs Prepared for DeliveryIt’s Tax Day in America. Millions of parents and thousands of innovative small business owners are wondering why Senate Republicans are sitting on bipartisan legislation that would help them get ahead. Here’s what Americans at home and small business owners trying to make payroll need to know. The bill on offer here in the Senate is the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act. I introduced it with Chairman Jason Smith of the House Ways and Means committee in January. It’s a combination of ideas from both sides. It expands the child tax credit, focusing on kids from low-income families. It ends the long-running discrimination against low-income families with more than one kid, few of whom can claim the credit for each of their children. It beefs up the incentive for R&D and investments in things like new equipment and software.Just today, the Finance Committee released new data we got from the Treasury Department on the situation facing small businesses if the Senate doesn’t pass this bill. According to the Treasury, 3.8 million small businesses claimed bonus depreciation or the R&D deduction in 2021. They’ll be hurt if the Senate doesn’t pass this bill. The situation is even more dire for the small businesses that are hyper-focused on innovation through research and development. A lot of them are start-ups that have the potential to grow into major economic powerhouses. Many of them operate in fields where our economy competes directly with China and other countries around the world. This isn’t just a handful of businesses scattered here and there. The Treasury Department identified 10,000 of those small businesses. From all over the country. Their operating costs are dominated by R&D. But the biggest tax incentive for R&D is now one-fifth as valuable to them as it used to be. That’s because of changes that Republicans made during the Trump administration. Right now, a lot of those R&D small businesses are telling every Senator who will listen that they may not survive if the Senate fails to act. In addition to small businesses, the bill will boost low-income housing, adding more than 200,000 new units across the country. It’s paid for by shutting down a pandemic-era tax program that’s riddled with fraud. The Congress has some difficult tax debates -- there’s a big one coming up in 2025. This bill is the easy stuff. The list of groups supporting this bill is so broad it’s almost unbelievable. Progressive economic groups. Conservative economic groups. Parents’ coalitions. Pro-life organizations. Anti-poverty groups. Small business advocates. Manufacturers. You name it. They all want to see this bill become law. In January it sailed through the Ways and Means committee, and sailed through the House with 357 votes in favor. These days you can’t get 357 members of the House of Representatives to vote in favor of apple pie and sunshine. The bill came over here to the Senate, and it’s been sitting for 10 weeks. I know there are a lot of Senate Republicans who like it. Some Senate Republicans objected to a provision in the bill that deals with what’s called a “lookback.” That provision deals with flexibility for families to claim the child tax credit using their income from the previous year. Senate Republicans claimed it would disincentivize work. The JCT disagreed. Even conservative experts from the Tax Foundation, Americans for Tax Reform and the American Enterprise Institute disagreed -- they said the bill wouldn’t have an impact on work. Regardless, I told my Republican counterpart on the Finance Committee, Senator Crapo, I’d be willing to drop the lookback policy. I’d replace it with other approaches that achieve the same cut in child poverty without any effect on work. I also offered to add additional policies that Senate Republicans asked for. Senator Crapo did not accept that offer. The changes he asked for instead would have destroyed any chance of passing the bill and left way too many kids living in poverty. But I want the rest of the Senate to know, my offer still stands. I’ve read that some Senate Republicans prefer to wait. The idea is, they can write their own bill in 2025 if they win the Senate in November.I’m here to say, this cannot wait. This bill would help 16 million kids from low-income families. They should not have to wait. The discrimination against families with two, three, four kids is unacceptable. Those families need help buying food, diapers, and new shoes, you name it. Today those kids are stuck splitting a single tax credit. Four kids can’t split a single pair of shoes. They should not have to wait. This bill would lift half a million kids out of poverty. It would be unconscionable to leave those kids in poverty for political reasons. They should not have to wait. The bill would boost the incentive for R&D and throw a lifeline to small business owners who are worried about keeping their doors open right now. They should not have to wait. And colleagues, it is unthinkable that the Senate would forego this opportunity to tackle fraud in the Employee Retention Credit, which is the pandemic-era program the bill would shut down. The Finance Committee was told last fall that as much as 95 percent of the ERC claims coming in were fraudulent or illegitimate. The IRS commissioner agreed when I asked him about it during a meeting earlier this year. This is the only bill on offer to shut down this firehose of fraud. It’s unthinkable that the Senate would allow it to go on. I just did a bunch of town meetings back in Oregon during the last recess. The reaction was always the same. People are awestruck at the idea that Congress is actually on the verge of passing a bipartisan bill that would help a whole lot of families and businesses that are walking an economic tightrope. At the same time, they’re scratching their heads when I tell them the Senate is holding it up. So colleagues, the Senate must get this done. I know it’s difficult, but I believe the votes are there. And let’s understand, if the Senate doesn’t pass this bill, the soonest it will revisit these issues, in all likelihood, is late 2025. Eighteen months from now. At that point, the Senate will have to deal with trillions of dollars in tax policies up in the air. It’s not as simple as setting these issues aside for just a few months and then making some changes on the margins. This is our opportunity. Sixteen million kids and thousands of small businesses should not have to wait. Let’s get this done.###Just do it. Senator Mike Crapo Senator Ron Wyden Congressman Mike Thompson Congressman Jason Smith Rep. Doug LaMalfa Senator Alex Padilla www.finance.senate.gov/chairmans-news/wyden-calls-on-senate-to-pass-bipartisan-tax-bill-says-kids... ... See MoreSee Less

Wyden Calls on Senate to Pass Bipartisan Tax Bill, Says Kids & Small Businesses Cannot Wait on Senate Republicans | The United States Senate Committee on Finance

www.finance.senate.gov

Wyden Calls on Senate to Pass Bipartisan Tax Bill, Says Kids & Small Businesses Cannot Wait on Senate Republicans

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After The Fire USA updated their cover photo.

3 weeks ago

After The Fire USA's cover photo ... See MoreSee Less

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