The House and Senate will be in session in mid-November. Newsom put his imprimatur on this deal and soon thereafter gave PG&E a safety regulation pass so they could exit the bankruptcy process and continue to operate with business as usual, that is, with little ongoing responsibility for making major wildfire mitigation efforts to their electric service lines and a backstop of California tax payers funds to payoff their next victims at 100% of their losses. The TCC and its attorneys have a fiduciary duty to advocate for the interests of all fire and other tort claimants in the bankruptcy proceeding. He will be replaced by Cathy Yanni, who has been with the trust since it was created two years ago as the claims administrator. (4,5,6,7,8). Governor, we are one of 68,870 families and businesses (250,000 Californians) waiting for full relief for our PGE-caused losses. ABC7News. United States Trustee Program Director Elliot - Fix the Biggest Victim Economy Ever Created by the U.S. Bankruptcy Program! These individual victims should not be left to fend for themselves in a creditor class outnumbered by sophisticated and deep-pocketed financial institutions and insurance companies.. Nine of the 10 biggest conflagrations in California since 1932 have occurred in the past decade, and PG&E told regulators that its equipment may be linked to the giant, currently raging Dixie Fire, too. With another 2022 California State budget surplus of $97 billion dollars, please propose allocating $1.5 to $3.5 billion to fully compensate the the wildfire losses of 68,870 wildfire victim families (250,000 citizens/voters) of Northern California. If he or Ms. Yanni (his replacement appointed solely by Trustee Trotter) sells the remaining 377 million of the victims shares for the same loss, victims stand to lose over $1.1 billion of their $13.5 billion settlement, perhaps much more. The lawsuits were subsequently coordinated into a single mass tort proceeding in San Francisco County Superior Court (JCCP No. (2020, December 19). Governor Haruhiko Kurodas battle with market forces has entered a new phase. The PGE 2020 Bankruptcy and PGE Fire Victim Trust. Each and every claim must be substantiated and evaluated by the FVT in a comprehensive and methodical process carried out by an experienced team of professionals under the direction of court-appointed Trustee Justice John K. Trotter (ret.) endstream endobj startxref At the closing of the PG&E bankruptcy trial in July 2020, Judge Dennis Montali (the judge and only judge presiding over the PG&E bankruptcy proceeding) proclaimed and I paraphrase and quote him: This PG&E $13.5 billion dollar wildfire victim settlement will allow for victims of the wildfires to be compensated for their losses quickly and fairly. That finally sounded good to the 68,870 families who lost homes and personal property in 2015, 2017, and 2018 Northern California wildfires for which PG&E was accused of and admitted to in court their negligence for our losses and was now officially named responsible for our losses. Huge welcome back! Thats why theyre called trusts., Visalia Times-Delta | Tulare Advance Register, Just hours before the Idaho murders, another grisly scene unfolded outside Bryan Kohberger's window, Polar bear kills woman, boy in remote Alaska village, Hawaii fisherman overboard, missing after hooking large ahi, Reality TV star Julie Chrisley reassigned from Florida prison to federal medical center, The rich and powerful flocked to Davos via private jet to discuss climate change, study finds, How a comedian and Air Force spouse are helping feed military families, How to make cheeseburger dumplings with the Dumpling Mafia, JetBlue plane bumps into another aircraft in JFK Airport's gate area. Rather, each wildfire claimant (or unsecured creditor) must file a separate claim in the bankruptcy court to safeguard their right to compensation. Https://Leginfo.Legislature.ca.Gov/Faces/billTextClient.Xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB1054 Retrieved June 5, 2022, from https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB1054, (6) Woodrow, M. W. (2022, February 23). Attorneys for the fire victims negotiated the deal on behalf of survivors, and it was funded half with cash and half with foundering PG&E stock. Any sale, disposition or other transaction involving the Trusts shares follow strict guidelines as outlined in filings with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. And one-half (i.e., $6.75 billion) of the victims settlement languishes in PGEs underperforming stock.(1,2,3,4,5,6,13). Retrieved June 5, 2022, from https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/They-need-help-now-In-Gold-Country-PG-E-16407001.php, (12) Andrew Graham. WebThe PGE 2020 Bankruptcy and PGE Fire Victim Trust PGE's bankruptcy workout plan to pay for victims' losses from the 2015, 2017 and 2018 Northern California wildfires was approved by California Gov. John K. Trotter (ret.) And we certainly should not be asking them to pay taxes on funds that are going to their lawyers this would be double taxing the settlement dollars. We are sympathetic to the fact that the complicated claims evaluation and payout process required by both California law and bankruptcy law can be hard for anyone to understand, said Yanni. The new payout, effective Feb. 15, will allow victims to gain 45% of claim value, instead of the current 30%. The Tort Claimants Committee (or TCC) is designed to give the individuals and families most affected by the 2017 and 2018 fires an independent and official voice throughout the bankruptcy case. The Fire Victim Trust was set up to compensate 67,000 victims as part of a bankruptcy settlement. The victims approval of the bankruptcy deal ($13.5 half in cash and half in PG&E stock) which by itself was unprecedented, that is, that victims would have to take a stock from its defendant for half of their settlement. March 12, 2021, San Francisco On Monday, March 15, the Fire Victim Trust (FVT) will begin distributing the first round of pro rata payments toward satisfying the claims of individuals and families who suffered losses in the 2015 Butte Fire, 2017 North Bay Fires and 2018 Camp Fire. iv. Now valued at over $10 each, Trotter says the difference could be taxed around 45%, meaning more money The material on this site is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for legal advice. All rights reserved. The trust has paid out $1.88 billion to date to more than 35,000 victims, and the new influx will allow that payment to swell to about $2.5 billion. Instead, all claims for fire-related damages will be incorporated into and resolved as part of the bankruptcy proceedings. Trust announced the sale of 60 million shares of PG&E stock, resolution of the 10th With such financial leverage, certainly Trustee Trotter could (and still could) have found a way to leverage our position by borrowing against our stock and preserving our position rather than squandering it away. This bill has been a long time coming, and I look forward to continuing this effort with Rep. Thompson so survivors can finally get a financial reprieve.". To the supervisors' points, it is clear that the excruciatingly slow processing of claims that we victims have suffered through for years demonstrates that the deal that Judge Montali helped craft and approve, and his long-term colleague and fellow octogenarian, Trustee Trotter, is overseeing, and which Gov. "It was really disappointing that many members of Congress signed a letter asking for clarification and they took five months fooling around getting back to us," said LaMalfa. (9) The deal was forged by this cast of players, i.e., Judge Montali, the Hedge Fund managers, the PG&E and Victims attorneys, and other large creditors and received the stamp-of-approval by Gov. For more information, visit FireVictimTrust.com. My goal is to keep the cost of administration below or as close to 1% as possible, Trotter wrote of the Fire Victim Trust. 10/31/22 . The payments average approximately $13,000. Take a look at more stories by the ABC7 News I-Team. %%EOF Trustee, Most vulnerable in this process are the wildfire victims who were uninsured, underinsured or have potential claims against the company for personal injury and wrongful death. Please Fix the Biggest Victim Economy You Approved by providing equitable compensation to the 2015, 2017 and 2018 wildfire victims. As to the victims payouts, to date (May 27, 2022), about 65% of the victims have received pennies on the dollars for their losses with 35% of the victims still waiting for a first pro rata payment, with most victims challenging their settlement determinations as unfair and underpaid as determined by the hundreds of Trust managers and staff, who incidentally are paid much more than fairly on time each and every month. Compensating victims will be a recurring challenge; giving them a volatile asset prone to falling in value turns out to be a poor solution. Hedge Funds Cash Out Billions in PG&E Stock. Insurance Journal. https://santarosapressdemocrat-ca.newsmemory.com/?token=CRID_john.stalcup@sbcglobal.net_26654&message_id=22606q2IXHqZd6krXsywJL3uC1IEx3QU&utm_source=emailMarketing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=email+stats, (14) https://www.counties.org/sites/main/files/file-attachments/inverse_condemnation_fact_sheet_league__csac.pdf, (15) https://www.firevictimtrust.com/Docs/FAQs.pdf, (16) https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/PG-E-victims-lawyer-scrutinized-over-Wall-15241511.php#:~:text=San%20Antonio%20lawyer%20Mikal%20Watts,that%20became%20public%20days%20earlier, (17) https://krcrtv.com/north-coast-news/eureka-local-news/judge-refuses-to-approve-fire-victims-letter-attacking-pge-04-09-2020, (18) https://www.reinsurancene.ws/pge-pays-11bn-settlement-to-re-insurers-joins-wildfire-fund/, (19) https://www.firevictimtrust.com/Docs/Trustee_Response_to_5-28-22_Editorial.pdf, Ramona D. ElliotDirector, United States Trustee Program, https://www.kqed.org/news/11891626/hedge-funds-cash-out-billions-in-pge-stock-fire-survivors-suffer-and-wait, https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2022/05/06/666497.htm, Https://Inthesetimes.Com/Article/California-Fire-Victims-Awaiting-Payment-from-Utility-Company, https://inthesetimes.com/article/california-fire-victims-awaiting-payment-from-utility-company, https://www.capradio.org/articles/2021/05/17/a-cascade-of-outrage-follows-investigation-into-pge-fire-victim-trust-expenses/, Https://Leginfo.Legislature.ca.Gov/Faces/billTextClient.Xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB1054, https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB1054, https://abc7news.com/pg-e-fire-victims-victim-trust-fund-ca-wildfire-not-paid-taxpayer/11593929/, https://www.kqed.org/news/11851347/pge-bankruptcy-yields-700-million-legal-fee-bonanza-for-wall-street-firms, Https://Www.Pbs.Org/Newshour/Show/Most-Fire-Victims-Are-Still-Waiting-to-Be-Paid-by-Pges-Fire-Victim-Fund-Investigation-Finds, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/most-fire-victims-are-still-waiting-to-be-paid-by-pges-fire-victim-fund-investigation-finds, https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/They-need-help-now-In-Gold-Country-PG-E-16407001.php, https://santarosapressdemocrat-ca.newsmemory.com/?token=CRID_john.stalcup@sbcglobal.net_26654&message_id=22606q2IXHqZd6krXsywJL3uC1IEx3QU&utm_source=emailMarketing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=email+stats, https://www.counties.org/sites/main/files/file-attachments/inverse_condemnation_fact_sheet_league__csac.pdf, https://www.firevictimtrust.com/Docs/FAQs.pdf, https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/PG-E-victims-lawyer-scrutinized-over-Wall-15241511.php#:~:text=San%20Antonio%20lawyer%20Mikal%20Watts,that%20became%20public%20days%20earlier, https://krcrtv.com/north-coast-news/eureka-local-news/judge-refuses-to-approve-fire-victims-letter-attacking-pge-04-09-2020, https://www.reinsurancene.ws/pge-pays-11bn-settlement-to-re-insurers-joins-wildfire-fund/, https://www.firevictimtrust.com/Docs/Trustee_Response_to_5-28-22_Editorial.pdf. Access unmatched financial data, news and content in a highly-customised workflow experience on desktop, web and mobile. So, if you receive $100,000 and give 25% to your attorney, you are still taxed on the full $100,000. Then I could go deeper based on what I read. Additional funding for fire victims is coming from a $592 million payment agreement from the PG&E trust, as well as money from selling 40 million shares in PG&E stocks representing around $480 million. Paradise mayor Steve Crowder welcomed the news of Trotters retirement. They were just asking legitimate questions on behalf of their constituents. More information about the PG&E bankruptcy is provided below. Michael Internicola and his family lost everything in the 2017 Tubbs Fire. Newsom approved, is and continues to be a tragic outcome for the PG&E wildfire victims. ), Trustee of the Fire Victims Trust, announced in a letter to fire victims Tuesday that he will be retiring effective June 30. Trotter also pointed out that the trust was facing tax issues, saying that the state and Federal Capital gains tax rate of more than a 40 percent capital gains tax on any profit above the $9 per stock price. So far, he has lost over $212 million dollars selling the victims stock and pays everyone on his Trust team exorbitant salaries and fees. It is an important development for fire survivors, and I share the press releaseissued today for more details. NORTH BAY, CA U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena) co-introduced legislation Wednesday that would ensure fire survivors are not taxed on payments received from the PG&E Fire Victims Trust. On September 29th, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill which will make PG &E wildfire victims' settlement payments state tax-free, but as of right now fire victims must still The North Bay fires of 2017 alone claimed 44 lives, burned more than 200,000 acres and destroyed 5,300 homes in Napa, Sonoma, Lake, Mendocino and Solano counties. The Claims Resolution Procedures approved in PG&Es bankruptcy cases require the Trust to issue a single Determination Notice that includes all claims in each Claims Questionnaire. 1 Sansome Street, Ste 2830 I have tried to work cooperatively with the Trustee while pressing for payments to be expedited with greater transparency and accountability, he said in the statement to this newspaper. This petition originates from one familys continued trials and tribulations with The Biggest Victim Economy Ever Created: The 2020 PG&E Fire Victim Trust, which was setup to fail the victims by bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali and continues to treat them unfairly, despite Montalis promise to pay the victims quickly and fairly. Retrieved June 5, 2022, from https://www.capradio.org/articles/2021/05/17/a-cascade-of-outrage-follows-investigation-into-pge-fire-victim-trust-expenses/, (5) California Legislative Information. opt-out claim, and issuance 90% of all Determination Notices. Claimants (or their lawyers, if represented) can access their confidential claims information, notices, and other program materials by logging into their secure Portal account here. Every day we are forced to hold the stock, leads to more costs and more taken away from victims, for sure, said Will Abrams, who lost his home in the 2017 Tubbs fire in Santa Rosa. 7305 to amend IRS Code of 1986 for certain fire survivors' claimants. Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. On June 28th, the Commissioner of the IRS responded to a request by Congressman Mike Thompson and Congressman Doug LaMalfa requesting guidance on the taxability of the settlement funds received from the Fire Victims Trust (FVT). The Beginning Pacific Gas & Electric - Wildfires are Us! It is an important development for fire survivors, and I share the. I hope 2023 will be a good year for fire survivors and am delighted to share that the Fire Victim Trust announced today that it will be increasing pro rata payments from 45 percent to 60 percent effective January 31, 2023. Apparently, no one can stop Trustee Trotter from selling victims shares at a loss. In the aftermath of each fire, thousands of people sought refuge in their vehicles, emergency tent communities or FEMA camps. Butte County survivors similarly filed lawsuits following the 2018 Camp Fire, with a motion to coordinate those cases still pending at the time PG&E initiated bankruptcy proceedings. It certainly appears that the lawyers, either working for the Trust or victims, were and are being paid well and in full for their services. Whether you are traveling, We support the Federal Insurance Office in their efforts to gather national data to get a clear picture of how insurers are adapting their operations in response to climate change, and how their actions are impacting property insurance affordability and availability across the nation.. Less than 1% of all claims have been appealed. In a letter to fire victims in April, fund trustee John Trotter said it had retained Richmond, Virginia-based BrownGreer to process claims and that the firm has 300 staff members committed to this project, including attorneys, project managers, analysts, claim reviewers, and software developers.". In that rubble Internicola says he found the only item that survived, a ring his father gave him. "We remain right on the exact same spot with the identical house we replaced," said Internicola. Trotter also said that the trust is hoping to maximize their assets by getting a loan from the state of California or from some other instrument that will allow the trust to complete and increase their prorated statements without having to sell more shares in a down market. On December That is stinging traders who bet the central bank would be forced to widen a 10-year government bonds trading band again, having expanded it to 0.50% from 0.25% in December under market pressure. And all of the victim attorneys (with just a couple of exceptions) said at the time that this was the best deal the victims could probably get, and if we rejected it, PG&E could file for Chapter 7 and we could lose almost everything and it could take years for that to happen. Again, the majority of wildfire victims had been waiting 3 to 6 years (in our case 3 years) and his words fair settlement in a reasonable amount of time washed over us like a long-awaited shower after being stranded in the wildfire jungle for years. The deal was structured to avoid having to pay taxes on the sale, authorities said. As of March 15, PG&E had paid out $3.04 billion in preliminary and pro-rata payments and awarded another $7.04 billion in determination notices. (8), In fact, the funds earmarked for wildfire disaster victims have first, quickly and more than fairly gone to the unwieldy and ineffectively operated PG&E Fire Victim Trust bureaucracy, (with excessive fees paid to the Trust managers and consultants); to the insurance companies that received full reimbursement of their homeowner insurance subrogation claim payments, and; complete payouts and large stock bonuses to the Hedge Funds for accepting the bad (half-stock) deal they all agreed to offer to the wildfire victims. Will new regulations do enough to keep homeowners from losing fire insurance. In the first pro rata payment, each claimant will receive 30% of the value assigned to their claims. I hope 2023 will be a good year for fire survivors and am delighted to share that the Fire Victim Trust announced today that it will be increasing pro rata payments from 45 percent to 60 percent effective January 31, 2023. An unidentified spokesman for the Fire Victim Trust told KQED the fund has now increased its payments to families, putting $195.2 million into the hands of those who lost loved ones, homes and businesses to fires caused by PG&E. Once they were able to resolve that issue with help of its lawyers, Brown Rudnick, the trust was able to gain another $100 million by having to avoid that capital gains tax, Trotter said. Analysts on average predict PG&E will make over $9 billion of EBITDA in 2023, compared with less than $6 billion in 2018. "What's the biggest hold up here," asked ABC7 News I-Team Reporter Melanie Woodrow. If you suffered losses in the following or related fires, you may be entitled recover legal damages from PG&E: We invite North Bay and Butte County fire survivors to contact our office at any time to review your case and understand your legal options. If PG&E performed well, so would they. KQED analyzed federal bankruptcy court filings, court transcripts and correspondence between victims and staff of the Fire Victim Trust. Shortly after the October 2017 North Bay Fires, members of the affected communities began filing lawsuits against PG&E based on the companys alleged role in causing the disaster. He approved the deal crafted largely favoring the interests of PG&E, Wall Street Hedge Fund investors that owned approximately 10% of PG&Es stock, and a small group of victims law firms that represented large groups of wildfire victims. Were not quite there yet, but getting closer! Newsom correct the inequities in the PGE wildfire victims' settlement awards that are being adjudicated by the PGE Fire Victim Trust and fully compensate the victims of the 2015, 2017 and 2018 Northern California wildfires as required by California's "inverse condemnation" law which says "if you broke it, you fix it" (which applies to public utilities) and, more importantly, by doing what's morally right. Here we are devastated by our losses, wondering how we could ever recover, and our attorneys are saying this settlement offer is our only hope. KQED. On September 29th, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill which will make PG&E wildfire victims' settlement payments state tax-free, but as of right now fire victims must still pay federal taxes on the award money. REUTERS/David Swanson. The FVT was created in July 2020 and funded with both cash and shares of stock pursuant to PG&Es Chapter 11 Plan of Reorganization. Fix the Biggest Victim Economy created and approved by you and Judge Montali. 2023 United Policyholders The material on this site is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for legal advice. California Senator Dianne Feinstein introduced companion legislation in the Senate. If you have previously retained an attorney for your wildfire claim, you do not need to take any further action. Many, if not all the victims lawyers, surely wanted the clock to start as soon as possible. She added: We will continue to monitor the markets in collaboration with our financial advisors to monetize the remaining shares as quickly as we can, but in a responsible manner, taking into account price, market conditions and the needs of fire survivors.. SAN FRANCISCO (AP) A trust approved by a federal judge to help compensate victims of deadly California wildfires sparked by Pacific Gas & Electric equipment paid survivors just $7 million while racking up $51 million in overhead in its first year of operation, KQED News reported. He said the trust had begun to make partial payments to about 9,500 of the 67,170 victims. Gavin Newsom and U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali and is being implemented by PGE Fire Victim Trust Trustee John Trotter who suddenly retired this week. For many Fire Victims, the pro rata payment will not mark the first time they have received compensation from the FVT. More fires are a virtual certainty. He leaves his leadership at the Trust at the end of June 2022. He said their first task was to design a system that allowed 70,000 fire victims to make claims, which he said took time to create and make it capable of receiving and reviewing more than 250,000 unique claims. Since then Trotter said they have received more than 19,000 personal injury claims and more than 400 death claims. Broadly, the process involves the following steps: With support from the Governors office and the California legislature, PG&E is expected to emerge from bankruptcy under a reorganization plan in secure (or investable) financial condition.

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