Sacramento – Assemblyman James Gallagher’s (R-Yuba City) effort to make PG&E wildfire victims settlement payments tax free cleared another hurdle today when the full Assembly passed AB 1249, legislation that would provide financial relief to wildfire victims by exempting them from paying state taxes on settlement payments made out of PG&E’s “Fire Victims Trust”.
Gallagher said, “Victims deserve to receive the maximum amount of compensation possible from PG&E, especially in light of recent reports that the trust might not be able to pay victims the full settlement amounts they were originally promised. More needs to be done, but the least we can do is make these payments tax free.”
“AB1249 will be a huge boost for all the fire victims that are still struggling to get their life back together. As they wait with uncertainty if they will have enough money to rebuild this will give them some hope and help to rebuild their lives” stated Steve Crowder, Mayor of Paradise.
Doug Teeter, Butte County Supervisor representing Paradise said, “Payments from the Fire Victims Trust are already going to be less than what many people are expecting due to PG&E’s stock price and the structure of the settlement. Providing income tax relief will help provide more financial resources to Camp Fire victims to help them rebuild and recover. It’s the right thing to do.”
PG&E’s “Fire Victims Trust” was created to compensate victims of the 2015 (Butte), 2017 (North Bay) and 2018 (Camp) wildfires. AB 1249 would clarify California’s tax code to allow all types of filers to be excluded from paying state taxes on advance settlements paid out of the trust.
AB 1249 is Principle Co-Authored by Senator Jim Nielsen (R-Tehama) and has a large coalition of bi-partisan co-authors. The bill now moves to the Senate for a committee vote sometime in March.