Washington, D.C. – In case you missed it, U.S. Senators Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.) recently introduced the bipartisan FIREWALL bill, legislation aimed at promoting community resilience to natural disasters through the creation of a new federal tax credit.
The tax credit will cover 50% of the eligible upgrades up to $25,000 for families who make less than $200,000 a year, with the credit phasing out for families making below $300,000. Eligible upgrades include fire resistant building materials and roofing, stormwater barriers, air filtration, and the removal of vegetation posing a risk to a home, to list a few. The credit will be adjusted for inflation starting in 2026 and is fully refundable, ensuring that costs are not a barrier for communities to make the upgrades needed to protect themselves from future disasters.
See coverage below:
NBC News: A proposed tax credit could help homeowners hit by climate-fueled natural disasters
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“I wanted to introduce a bill as my first bill that deals with the tragic fires in Southern California, which are an order of magnitude unlike anything we’ve seen in terms of fire-related catastrophes,” Schiff told NBC News.
Schiff said the bill is also one possible solution to the country’s growing insurance crisis, as insurance providers back out of certain markets or refuse to write new policies in hurricane-prone states like Florida or states at high risk of wildfires like California.
Schiff said the legislation came out of discussions with his constituents after the January wildfires that devastated whole neighborhoods in Southern California. Multiple blazes burned for almost a full month, killing at least 30 people, scorching more than 38,000 acres, destroying more than 15,000 homes and businesses and causing tens of billions of dollars in damages.
“One of the things that is really concerning them is the necessity of rebuilding in a more resilient way, and how can they afford to do it,” Schiff said.
Los Angeles Times: Schiff’s first Senate bill proposes tax credit for hardening homes against fire, disasters
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Insurance policies have become increasingly expensive and difficult to secure across California and in other states as the insurance industry has reassessed the growing threat and potential cost of major climate-driven disasters, such as the wildfires that destroyed parts of the Los Angeles region this year.
“The fires that we experienced were really unprecedented in their scope and devastation. And I wanted my first bill to be an effort to address them, but also to address the incredible risks of climate-related disasters around the state of California and around the country,” Schiff said in an interview with The Times.
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Sheehy also praised the bill, saying in a statement that he has “witnessed firsthand the devastating aftermath of natural disasters on communities and families” as a former aerial firefighter.
“Given the unpredictability of a natural disaster, this bipartisan bill ensures that the American people receive the support they need to safeguard themselves against future disasters,” Sheehy said.
The fires that devastated Pacific Palisades and Altadena in January were among the most costly natural disasters in U.S. history, with a January estimate from weather forecasting service AccuWeather putting the total anticipated damage and economic loss between $250 billion and $275 billion. The fires also killed 30 people.
Many homeowners who lost their homes in the fires said insurers had dropped their policies last year, adding to the devastation.
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“What we saw during the L.A. fires is you would have embers that would travel a mile, go through a vent in someone’s home, ignite that home, that home would then ignite other homes in the same block, in the same neighborhood, and pretty soon the whole block was gone,” Schiff said. “If you can prevent that first house from being lit on fire, then you can sometimes save a whole neighborhood.”
Schiff said he and Sheehy met during an orientation for new Senate members and “discovered we had a strong shared interest in wildfire suppression and remediation.” When he raised the idea of a tax credit, Sheehy mentioned a similar effort underway in Montana, and “it seemed like a very natural fit for the both of us,” Schiff said.
Schiff said the bill is a good starting point for what will need to be a much broader effort to shore up insurance markets in the face of climate change, which Republicans and the White House — dismissive of climate change in the past — need to start taking more seriously.
“Their attitudes are going to have to change, because their constituents are going to demand it, because their constituents aren’t going to be able to insure their homes and businesses,” Schiff said. “That’s already starting to happen.”
ABC7 Los Angeles: Schiff Talks New “FIREWALL” Act with ABC7 LA
Rachel Brown: California Senator Adam Schiff has just introduced his first bill as Senator. The Democrat is teaming up with Republican Senator Tim Sheehy from Montana to propose a new tax credit to help protect homes from fires and other natural disasters. Representative Schiff told Eyewitness News that the bill would offer a tax credit for up to 50% of the cost to retrofit your home. It’s designed to help families earning less than $300,000 a year afford the upgrades.
Schiff: It could be something very similar, like making sure there’s not vegetation growing right up to your house. Or it could be something more costly, like better building materials and rebuilding your roof or a water layer water insulation. And by helping people afford to use different building materials and build more resiliently, it should also bring insurance costs down.
Rachel Brown: Schiff says the bill will help victims of the recent LA fires rebuild with materials that will help them survive future natural disasters.
FOX 11 Los Angeles: Schiff proposes tax credit for families prepping their home for natural disasters
California Sen. Adam Schiff and Montana Sen. Tim Sheehy introduced a new bill on Tuesday that would give property owners a tax break for disaster preparation.
The “FIREWALL” Act would offer a tax credit for homeowners to upgrade their property to withstand natural disasters.
What we know:
The senators introduced the Facilitating Increased Resilience, Environmental Weatherization and Lowered Liability Act on Tuesday.
What does the tax credit cover?
The act would pay for 50% of up to $25,000 for home upgrades to help prevent disasters like wildfires or floods. Those upgrades include things like fire-resistant building materials or roofing, storm water barriers, air filtration, and vegetation removal, among others.
Who can receive the tax credit?
Dig deeper:
The 50% credit would be offered to families that make less than $200,000 a year. Under the FIREWALL Act, communities that have had a federally declared disaster in the last 10 years would be eligible.
In the announcement on Tuesday, the senators specifically mentioned communities in states like California, Montana, North Carolina and Florida, which are currently recovering from natural disasters like the Palisades and Eaton Fires in Southern California, and Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Melton in the southeastern U.S.
What they’re saying:
“As California works to recover from the costliest natural disaster in its history, I’m proud that my first bill introduced in the Senate will help California communities and those in other disaster-prone states make the necessary upgrades that we know can reduce damage, prevent further devastation, and save lives,” Schiff said in a press release.
By the numbers:
Schiff also argued that the bill would actually help save taxpayers money in the long run, citing a study by the National Institute of Building Sciences. According to their analysis, every federal dollar spent on mitigating the effects of natural disasters saves taxpayers approximately six dollars long term.
The Sacramento Bee: Will Congress give Californians tax breaks for disaster-proofing their homes?
Upgrading a roof, air filtration or other items that will help protect your home against fires, storms and other disasters? Republicans and Democrats are proposing a tax break for the projects. The FIREWALL Act, sponsored by Sens. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Tim Sheehy, R-Montana, is aimed at encouraging preventive measures against disasters.
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In the meantime, the senators are proposing a federal tax credit that would cover half of eligible upgrades of up to $25,000 for families who earn less than $200,000 annually.
The amount of the credit would be gradually reduced for families with incomes of $200,000 to $300,000.
Upgrades can include fire resistant building materials and roofing, stormwater barriers, air filtration and the removal of vegetation posing a risk to a home, to list a few.
Starting next year, it would be adjusted for inflation.
Any area that’s experienced a federally declared disaster in the last 10 years is eligible, which would include any part of California.
Following the Eaton and Palisades fires that became the costliest natural disaster in California’s history, Sen. Adam Schiff and Sen. Tim Sheehy introduced a bill to create a new federal tax credit aimed at promoting community resilience to natural disasters.
On Tuesday, Schiff and Sheehy introduced the Facilitating Increased Resilience, Environmental Weatherization and Lowered Liability Act (FIREWALL). The bipartisan bill will create a tax credit that will cover 50% of eligible upgrades up to $25,000 for families who make less than $200,00 per year, and the credit will phase out for families making less than $300,000.
Schiff and Sheehy want to make sure the costs of making upgrades to the home are not a barrier for communities.
KFI AM Radio: Congress Considers Tax Breaks for Disaster-Proofing Homes In California
Host: Democratic Senator Adam Schiff has introduced a bill that would offer tax credits to folks rebuilding from natural disasters like the wildfires in LA County. Schiff tells KFI the tax credit would benefit people looking to use more fire-resistant materials in California.
Schiff (in clip): You can rebuild using building materials that will help your home survive a potential disaster, new roofing materials, even brush clearance.
Host: The bill has been introduced with a Republican senator, and Schiff says the credits would be available across the country for a variety of natural disasters. The credit of up to $25,000 for families making under $200,000 a year could also be used for preventative retrofitting of homes in wildfire or flood prone areas.
CBS News: Sen. Schiff talks FIREWALL bill after LA Fires
On Tuesday, Schiff introduced his first bill as a senator, which would create a federal tax credit to reimburse people to retrofit their homes to make them more disaster-proof.
“It’s certainly not going to be the end all answer to the insurance crisis, but because it will make homes more resilient against fire, it will make it more possible, and I hope, to reduce the cost of insurance,” Schiff told CBS News.
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