The Trump administration is denying federal disaster assistance to Illinois for aid it requested to assist in recovery efforts from severe storms throughout the summer, according to Gov. JB Pritzker’s office.
The state requested funds for individuals and the municipalities struggling with cleanup in Champaign, Cook, Ford, Fulton, McLean, Tazewell, Vermilion, and Will counties, Pritzker’s office said.
Pritzker said the state would “continue to explore every available option to help our communities recover and the survivors rebuild their lives after devastating storms,” including appealing the decision.
“Our communities are still picking up the pieces from the destruction caused by severe weather this summer. Donald Trump should never play politics with their homes, businesses, and infrastructure,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “When a massive storm system crosses state lines, the resulting damage should be evaluated fairly, consistently and based on the same objective standards and criteria, regardless of which state it impacts.”
Illinois has seen the most tornadoes of any state in the nation this year, with 212, amid a summer-long surge of severe weather.
Last month, Pritzker extended his initial disaster proclamation signed Aug. 18, which would have opened up temporary housing and home repair grants, low-cost loans for uninsured property damage, and “other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of this severe weather” if the request had gone through.
It included the storms in Cook County July 27 that also affected DuPage, Lake, Vermillion and Will counties, in addition to storms that occurred August 9-11, which also made Champaign, DuPage, LaSalle, Tazewell and Will counties eligible for damage relief.
The declaration from Pritkzer came after another he signed following severe storms in April and June.
At the time, the governor said he was confident it would be granted despite previous Trump attempts to withhold disaster funding from states that don’t politically align with him.
Last fall, a coalition of 21 attorneys general, including Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, won back nearly $2 billion in disaster relief funds Trump’s administration had attempted to withhold from states with sanctuary cities.
District Court for the District of Rhode Island Judge William E. Smith said the order was unconstitutional and violated the Administrative Procedure Act, and that the federal government had failed to consider the “public safety consequences of undermining state emergency budgets in this way.”
In a joint statement with 10 other members of Illinois’ Congressional delegation, Sen. Dick Durbin said the decision was politically motivated and “beneath the dignity of the office [Trump] holds.”
Durbin, a Democrat, said he supported Pritzker’s appeal and would “continue to do whatever I can to support Illinoisans in the aftermath of these devastating storms.”
“Much like a toddler throwing a tantrum, Donald Trump continues to punish Americans who live in states that did not support him in the last election,” Durbin said.