California Attorney General Rob Bonta has filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration over the termination of FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grant program. The lawsuit challenges what Bonta describes as an unlawful shutdown, which could affect over a billion dollars in funding for California projects aimed at mitigating natural disasters such as flooding, wildfires, landslides, drought, and earthquakes.
Attorney General Bonta emphasized the importance of disaster preparedness: “Nearly thirty years ago, both Democrats and Republicans in Congress recognized a simple fact: Preparing for disasters, instead of just reacting to them, saves money and lives.” He criticized the decision to cut pre-disaster mitigation funding under President Trump’s administration.
The BRIC program has been supported across five presidential administrations with bipartisan backing. It aims to reduce harm from natural disasters by investing in preventive measures. In California alone, projects funded by BRIC include landslide prevention in Rancho Palos Verdes, flood mitigation in Sacramento, and seismic retrofitting of a hospital in Kern County.
The lawsuit argues that Cameron Hamilton’s decision to end the program was illegal due to his improper appointment as FEMA Administrator. The suit was filed by Attorney General Bonta along with attorneys general from 19 other states and Pennsylvania.
