Budget deal includes wildfire disaster fund to end borrowing
By Matthew Daly, AP
A spending bill approved by the House includes a bipartisan plan to create a wildfire disaster fund to help combat increasingly severe wildfires that have devastated the West in recent years.
The bill sets aside more than $20 billion over 10 years to allow the Forest Service and other federal agencies end a practice of raiding non-fire-related accounts to pay for wildfire costs, which approached $3 billion last year.
The House approved the measure Thursday, with Senate action expected soon after as Congress faces a Friday night deadline to avoid a partial government shutdown.