Oregon Governor Kate Brown will veto several line-item appropriations in order to save funds for the state’s ongoing emergency wildfire response efforts.
Flames have destroyed thousands of homes in days, making the US state the latest epicenter in a larger summer outbreak of fires.
In order to expedite an immediate relief package, Brown also requested that legislators reserve at least $150 million in the state’s emergency fund.
According to Brown, Oregon faces several unprecedented challenges simultaneously, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, structural racism, widespread joblessness, budget shortfall, and “now the worst wildfire season” in our lifetimes.
So far, the wildfires have scorched more than 1 million acres of land across the state, according to the Oregon Office of Emergency Management.
