The move by Governor Gavin Newsom came after several days of calls by Republican lawmakers for a special session to address the Los Angeles-area blazes.
Alan Riquelmy / January 13, 2025 |
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A legislative move announced Monday could lead to $50 million in state funds to “Trump-proof” California, a direction Republicans are increasingly attacking as wildfires rage in Los Angeles.
In addition to the legislative maneuver, Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday — minutes after Republican lawmakers urged him to call a special session to address the wildfires — augmented his initial proclamation that called for the Trump-proofing of the state. The existing special session now also will focus on providing $2.5 billion for emergency response funding and preparedness efforts for natural disasters.
The existing special session, and calls for one targeting the state’s insurance industry and wildfire prevention, have led Republicans to rail against the Democratic governor since the Palisades and Eaton fires erupted last week. Republicans have argued the special session should focus on the needs of Angelenos affected by the brutal wildfires, not on providing funding for lawyers to battle the incoming Donald Trump presidency.
It now appears that lawmakers will get both.
“I’m glad to see Governor Newsom agreeing that the state needs to prioritize relief for Californians impacted by these fires,” Assembly Minority Leader James Gallagher said in a statement to Courthouse News. “I certainly hope he doesn’t play politics with this money by tying it to his slush fund for government lawyers and left-wing groups to fight President Trump.”
Newsom in his revised proclamation stated that $1 billion should go toward state emergency funding to pay for response, cleanup and recovery efforts for areas affected by this month’s fires. Additionally, another $1.5 billion should be allocated for more preparation against fires, windstorms and other natural disasters.
While it’s not a rejection of the Trump-proofing special session Republicans called for in a Monday press conference, the augmented special session appears to meet some of their demands.
Assemblymember Greg Wallis, a Bermuda Dunes Republican, said the state’s priorities are wrong. It didn’t learn lessons from major blazes like the Camp Fire, which in 2018 destroyed the town of Paradise, and needed to do better.
“We must end the cycle of burning and rebuilding,” Wallis said.
Assemblymember Diane Dixon, a Newport Beach Republican, questioned how many times state officials must have the same conversation about fire. State Senator Shannon Grove, a Bakersfield Republican, argued that the red tape stymying rebuilding efforts in the state must be addressed.
Currently, the only bills introduced for the special session address funding for the Trump-proofing of the state.
A hearing on a bill by state Senator Scott Wiener in the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee, which Wiener chairs, is set for Tuesday. The companion Assembly bill initially had a Tuesday hearing set, though it’s since been canceled.
Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat, said in a Monday statement that he’d amend his budget bill for the special session focused on Trump-proofing California. That bill now calls for $25 million in funding for legal aid services for Californians and local legal service centers.
Wiener’s bill initially called for $500,000 for litigation expenses.
A companion bill in the Assembly, which also has been amended, calls for $25 million for the state Department of Justice, which would fund litigation against what Wiener called “potentially damaging actions” from a Donald Trump presidency.
“California faces two massive challenges: Horrific, destructive wildfires in Los Angeles — rebuilding the lives and communities of tens of thousands of our neighbors which Senate Leader [Mike] McGuire and Senate Democrats will deliver on in the coming weeks — and an incoming federal administration that has vowed to make it harder for Los Angeles to recover, by withholding disaster relief and deporting immigrant Angelenos who have been impacted by the fires and who are actively helping their neighbors,” Wiener said.
Both the state Senate and Assembly bills are part of the special session called last year by Newsom in the wake of Trump’s election win. Newsom said it was needed to safeguard the state’s civil rights protections, immigrant population and reproductive freedoms.
Greg Wallis represents California’s 47th Assembly District.
