Bills would provide $1.2 billion to freeze victims in California

“Lawmakers announced bills to provide more than $1.2 billion in grants, low-interest loans and assistance to growers and workers affected by a recent crop freeze, last year’s heat wave and flooding. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., introduced a bill Wednesday that would speed help to communities that lost an estimated $1.2 billion last month in oranges, tangerines, avocados and other crops nipped by the cold. Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, and Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Tulare, planned to introduce a similar bill by Friday. ‘We have communities that are now experiencing, as a result of the freeze, in excess of 50, 60, 70 percent unemployment’, Costa said.”