Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey on Thursday pledged to appeal a decision from President Donald Trump’s administration denying a request to declare the February blizzard that dumped more than 2 feet of snow a major disaster.
State officials asked the federal government to formally declare the storm a major disaster in April. If granted, the request would have helped state agencies and local governments pay for snow removal and storm-related costs.
The storm dumped record snow across Massachusetts, particularly on the South Coast, where some communities reported more than 3 feet of snow.
The storm also knocked out power for hundreds of thousands of residents.
In a statement, Healey said she was “deeply disappointed” by Trump’s decision to deny aid.
“Massachusetts experienced one of the worst winter storms we’ve seen in decades. Our first responders, public works crews and local communities worked around the clock to keep people safe and begin recovery. They did their job, and now President Trump needs to do his,” she said.
“When communities are recovering from extraordinary disasters, the President should be focused on helping people — not turning his back on states that need support. We intend to appeal, and we’ll keep fighting to secure every federal dollar Massachusetts deserves,” Healey continued.
An analysis of public data from FEMA by Andrew Rumbach, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute, a nonprofit research organization, found that Trump has routinely denied requests coming from states that voted against him in the last election.
Rumbach found the administration approved 54 of 64 requests from states that voted for Trump in 2024, compared to 9 of 22 from states that voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris. He also found the administration resolved requests from states that backed Trump about 50 days faster than states that backed Harris.
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