Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Environmental Health topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Senate committee advances bill to exempt Chiquita Canyon relief payments from state taxes
Summary
The Senate Committee on Tax and Revenue unanimously voted to advance AB 27, which would prevent relief payments from Chiquita Canyon Landfill from being treated as taxable income for recipients, after residents and county officials described health and financial harms tied to a long-burning landfill fire in Los Angeles County.
Assemblymember Pilar Schiavo urged the Senate Committee on Tax and Revenue on Monday to pass AB 27, a bill that would treat relief payments made to residents affected by the Chiquita Canyon Landfill fire as non-taxable. The committee voted to move the bill to the Committee on Rules, 5-0.
AB 27 responds to a long-running underground fire at Chiquita Canyon Landfill. "This is an underground fire that has expanded and tripled in size from 30 to 90 acres of burning trash that's expected to burn for the next 20 or more years," Assemblymember Pilar Schiavo said, describing community health impacts she said include headaches and other symptoms.
The bill’s author and multiple witnesses said the landfill operator established a time-limited relief fund that helped residents install air filtration and make other home hardening repairs. Community witnesses said accepting those payments created new, unintended tax burdens.
Brandy House, who identified herself as a Val Verde resident, said her family lives about 1,600 feet from the site and used relief funds to install central air with HEPA filtration, replace windows and seal doors. "These funds were essential to protecting our health," House said. She added that the payments pushed some recipients into higher tax brackets and asked the committee to classify the funds as non‑taxable.
Nora Lynn Clemens, another Val Verde resident, described recurring nosebleeds, headaches and anxiety in her family after the landfill-related pollution and said some neighbors rented hotel rooms or left town during high-exposure periods. "These checks are not income for financial gain. They are supposed to provide relief," Clemens said, urging support for AB 27.
Erica Parker of Californians Against Waste and Marvin Dionne of the County of Los Angeles spoke in support. Committee members offered praise for the witnesses and for the bill’s approach. The chair called the motion and the secretary recorded a 5-0 vote to pass AB 27 to the Committee on Rules.
No formal opposition witnesses appeared in the hearing. The bill’s next procedural step is consideration by the Rules Committee.
The bill and testimony focused on three distinct effects: health impacts residents attributed to the landfill fire; out-of-pocket and recurring household costs for air conditioning and filtration; and the tax treatment of the one-year relief fund that many residents used for home hardening measures.
