Washington—Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) yesterday sent a letter to President Donald Trump urging him to extend the 100 percent federal cost-share for California's National Guard forces responding to COVID-19 through the end of the calendar year. Without action, the cost-share arrangement will expire on September 30, 2020.

            “The National Guard is a critical component of California's efforts to contain the pandemic. There are nearly 850 Guard forces serving in 21 of California's 58 counties who are providing medical support, staffing COVID-19 testing sites, and delivering assistance to people in need. At the same time, California has activated an additional 1,600 National Guard forces to provide support to California's firefighting operations, including medical evacuation, aerial fire suppression, and other critical mission functions,” wrote Feinstein.

            “The 100 percent federal cost-sharing support is essential to California's efforts to respond to the pandemic, especially as the Guard is now also engaged in fighting California's devastating wildfires.”

            Full text of the letter is available here and below.

September 14, 2020

President Donald J. Trump
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President,

            I write to urge you to extend the 100 percent federal cost-share for California's National Guard forces responding to COVID-19 through the end of the calendar year rather than allowing it to expire on September 30th

            The National Guard is a critical component of California's efforts to contain the pandemic. There are nearly 850 Guard forces serving in 21 of California's 58 counties who are providing medical support, staffing COVID-19 testing sites, and delivering assistance to people in need. At the same time, California has activated an additional 1,600 National Guard forces to provide support to California's firefighting operations, including medical evacuation, aerial fire suppression, and other critical mission functions.

            Your Executive Order of August 7, 2020, authorized an extension of full federal cost-sharing for California only until September 30, 2020. Meanwhile, you authorized full federal cost-sharing for Texas and Florida through the end of the calendar year. According to information I have received from the Department of Defense, the California National Guard's total activation for pandemic response and firefighting is 694 more personnel than Texas and 1,387 more than Florida, both of which have been authorized to receive 100 percent federal cost-sharing through the end of the calendar year. Therefore, I urge you to treat California as fairly as you have treated Texas and Florida.

            The 100 percent federal cost-sharing support is essential to California's efforts to respond to the pandemic, especially as the Guard is now also engaged in fighting California's devastating wildfires. I appreciate your attention to this request.

Sincerely,

Dianne Feinstein
United States Senator

cc: Secretary of Defense Dr. Mark T. Esper