{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.kim.senate.gov/press_release/senators-kim-and-booker-lead-delegation-urging-approval-of-new-jerseys-appeal-for-federal-disaster-assistance-after-initial-request-was-denied/", "Senators Kim and Booker Lead Delegation Urging Approval of New Jersey\u2019s Appeal for Federal Disaster Assistance After Initial Request Was Denied", "2026-07-31", "2026", "2026-07", "Democrat", "Senate", "NJ", "Andy Kim", "K000394", "www.kim.senate.gov", "kim", "https://www.kim.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 U.S. Senators Andy Kim and Cory Booker led members of the New Jersey congressional delegation in urging President Donald J. Trump to approve Governor Mikie Sherrill\u2019s appeal of FEMA\u2019s denial of the State\u2019s request for a Major Disaster Declaration following the devastating February 22\u201323, 2026, winter storm. New Jersey submitted its original request for federal disaster assistance on April 7, 2026, and FEMA denied that request on July 2, 2026.\n\n\u201cAccording to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, approximately 24 inches of snow fell in less than 24 hours across eastern and central New Jersey, and eight of the State\u2019s 21 counties recorded record or near-record snowfall totals and qualify as \u2018core counties\u2019 as laid out by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the Public Assistance Program and Policy Guide (PAPPG). Another four counties met the \u2018contiguous county\u2019 requirements for snow assistance outlined in the PAPPG,\u201d wrote the lawmakers.\n\nThe lawmakers\u2019 latest appeal follows a bipartisan April 21 letter from the delegation pressing the Administration to approve the State\u2019s initial request, citing the storm\u2019s deadly impacts, widespread outages affecting more than 127,000 customers, hundreds of accidents, and nearly $100 million in statewide damages. The February storm claimed 12 lives across nine counties, caused extensive power outages, and inflicted significant damage to homes, businesses, and critical infrastructure\u2014costs that New Jerseyans should not be forced to shoulder alone\n\nPreliminary damage assessments for Public Assistance teams documented significant emergency work and damage to public facilities and infrastructure across 19 counties. The storm further strained New Jersey\u2019s emergency response capacity, which was already stretched after the State responded to a major snow and ice storm just weeks earlier and managed six active federal disaster declarations.\n\n\u201cA careful review of the State of New Jersey\u2019s appeal demonstrates that this request far exceeds all Stafford Act statutory and regulatory thresholds. The extent of the damage, the operational burden throughout the State, and the cumulative impacts of recent and related extreme weather all provide overwhelming evidence that New Jersey\u2019s request must be granted,\u201d wrote the lawmakers.\n\nIn addition to Senators Kim and Booker, the letter was signed by New Jersey U.S. Representatives Donald Norcross (D-NJ-1), Herb Conaway Jr. (D-NJ-3), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ-5), Frank Pallone (D-NJ-6), Robert Menendez (D-NJ-8), Nellie Pou (D-NJ-9), LaMonica McIver (D-NJ-10), Analilia Mejia (D-NJ-11), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ-12).\n\nRead the full text of the letter here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-08-04T07:35:49Z", "2026-08-04T07:37:27Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.kim.senate.gov/press_release/senators-kim-and-booker-lead-delegation-urging-approval-of-new-jerseys-appeal-for-federal-disaster-assistance-after-initial-request-was-denied/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8824970573186874, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}