Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

Floor Speech

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Mr. PADILLA. Madam President, I rise to introduce the Protect Innocent Victims Of Taxation After Fire Act. This legislation would provide tax relief for individuals and families who have received compensation for losses and damages suffered during a wildfire.

The Protect Innocent Victims Of Taxation After Fire Act would exclude from gross income certain qualified wildfire relief payments, including compensation for losses, expenses, or damages, such as compensation for additional living expenses, lost wages, personal injury, death, or emotional distress.

This legislation would provide much needed certainty and relief to victims by ensuring that any compensation they receive is not subject to Federal income tax and instead may be fully utilized for its intended purpose.

Pacific Gas & Electric, or PG&E, equipment was found to be responsible for three major fires in 2015, 2017, and 2018. In 2019, PG&E and victims of these wildfires reached a settlement that set up a Fire Victim Trust, funded with $6.75 billion in cash and 477 million shares of PG&E stock, to compensate victims for losses and damages associated with these devastating wildfires.

Unfortunately, the taxability of funds received from the trust varies based on what type of loss is being claimed, which makes it difficult for recipients to determine what amount of their claims can be used to rebuild their lives or replace their losses. This financial and legal uncertainty is the last thing wildfire victims should be worried about in the aftermath of such tragedy.

This specific settlement is unfortunately no longer unique. Last Congress, I joined Senators Feinstein and Hickenlooper as well as our bipartisan House leads in introducing a version of this legislation designed to cover the Fire Victim Trust claimants. The bill introduced today expands protections to anyone receiving wildfire-related disaster aid payments. As the impacts of climate change continue to fuel the frequency and severity of wildfires across the Western United States, it is imperative that Congress enact this legislation and provide certainty to both past victims and those who may be impacted in the future.

I would like to thank Representatives LaMalfa and Thompson for leading this bipartisan legislation in the House, and I hope my colleagues will join us in supporting this bill to ensure wildfire victims receive full and proper compensation to help rebuild their lives and communities. ______

By Mr. PADILLA (for himself, Mr. Merkley, Ms. Butler, Mr. Welch, Mr. Whitehouse, Ms. Warren, Mr. Bennet, Ms. Cortez Masto, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Schatz, Ms. Duckworth, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Lujan, Mr. Kaine, and Mr. Booker):

S. 3712. A bill to amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to treat United States Citizenship and Immigration Services field offices as voter registration agencies, and for other purposes; to the Committee on the Judiciary.

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Mr. PADILLA. Madam President, I rise to introduce the INVITE Act.

This legislation would require USCIS field offices to offer voter registration assistance at naturalization ceremonies to ensure that newly naturalized United States citizens are able to fully participate in our democratic process.

This legislation would designate USCIS field offices as voter registration agencies under the National Voter Registration Act and require them to support new citizens in registering to vote, including providing the registration application, offering assistance in completing the application, and returning the application to the State election official or agency.

It would significantly expand the agency's voter registration efforts to encompass all new United States citizens, not just those naturalized through USCIS administrative ceremonies.

USCIS policy currently only requires the agency to ensure that voter registration forms are distributed to new United States citizens at their naturalization ceremonies--not returned to the appropriate State election agency--and also fails to reach new United States citizens who are naturalized at judicial ceremonies or without a formal ceremony.

During the recent midterm elections, just 61 percent of all naturalized citizens were registered to vote, compared to 70 percent of native-born Americans, due in part to distinct obstacles, such as language barriers, that new citizens face.

The National Voter Registration Act has proven to be an effective tool for voter registration, with departments of motor vehicles accounting for almost 40 million new voter registration applications from 2018 to 2022.

USCIS, like the other agencies designated under the National Voter Registration Act, interacts with a significant population of eligible but unregistered voters. In 2022, the agency naturalized more than 900,000 new U.S. citizens.

New United States citizens deserve to be supported as they exercise their right to political participation, as guaranteed by our Constitution.

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