Trump’s executive order is a gift to developers, not fire survivors
Photo Credit: Evan Vucci, AP Photo
Trump’s latest executive order promising a fast track to rebuilding Altadena and the Palisades is a gift to developers and the ultra-wealthy, not survivors. It's clear that survivors are frustrated with the pace of recovery, but the real bottle-neck is not permitting - it is the largest insurance corporations delaying and denying policyholders full compensation. Investors and developers are already taking advantage of overwhelmed families, snatching up nearly 40% of properties in burn zones. These developers are the beneficiaries of the executive order.
After an entire year, FEMA has still refused to pay for soil testing for homes that were victims of the country’s most expensive disaster in its history, and insurers like State Farm are instructing adjusters to undercut smoke and contaminant cleanup payouts. Insurance companies should be providing the necessary funds to ensure a livable home, but homeowners are shouldering this burden themselves, hiring private contractors and adjusters out of pocket to aid in their recovery efforts.
Trump’s mandate comes after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers received over 1,100 complaints filed by Eaton and Palisades property owners — with over 20% related to the quality of their work. Federal cleanup has not followed protocols, causing the further spread of contamination.
Eaton Fire Residents United, a group of fire survivors created to help each other amidst the negligence of the insurance industry, hired experts to test their homes following the disaster. Forty-three out of 45 homes tested had at least some level of lead contamination. Lead is only one of the many toxic chemicals still being found on burn sites.
Families that are rebuilding are already endangered under the current permitting process. A more relaxed process, as allowed by Trump, would likely make an expensive and tragic recovery even more cumbersome, and potentially life-threatening.
All of this suffering is a political decision. The Democratic party in California holds the seat of power in state and local government. If they truly wanted fire survivors to rebuild, the governor, the State Senate and Assembly members, and the Insurance Commissioner could work together to freeze rate increases, conduct rigorous investigations of the top insurance companies’ deceptive claims procedures, and levy heavy fines on those found to be criminally responsible for the undue suffering of thousands of families across LA. Instead, they have approved rate increase after rate increase and denied people the fast recovery they deserve. At the heart of their plan for the insurance industry is further deregulation and incentives for the insurance companies, not more protection for the insured. They are completely committed to strengthening the stranglehold the private insurance industry has over California families.
Unlike the Democratic and Republican Parties, the Lalo Vargas for Insurance Commissioner campaign is building a movement of working people who stand up to these executives. The masses taking a stand against ICE in Minneapolis show us that a people’s movement is the real counterweight to Trump and the billionaire agenda he leads. This era of climate catastrophe, brought on through centuries of corporate exploitation of our people and our environment, is part of the same fight.
We call for a government that meets the needs of the people and planet, not the billionaires. While working people need insurance, we do not need insurance companies. A public insurer that prioritizes people and not profit is the fastest way to recovery.
