California lawmakers are calling for significant changes in wildfire preparedness and prevention.
“There are a lot of similarities. And that's part of the problem here, I don't know if we've really learned the lessons of the past,” said Assembly Minority Leader James Gallagher. He told FOX News Digital.
Gallagher discussed the 2019 Paradise Fire that hit his district and said more needs to be done to combat and prevent devastating wildfires across the Golden State.
“This is the same type of devastating wind-driven fire that you can still see moving dead and dying timber and underbrush on federal land. In that case, entire communities were destroyed,” Gallagher said. he said.
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California Governor Gavin Newsom is defending criticism of his response to the Los Angeles wildfires amid mounting backlash. (Newsom: Photo by Jeff Gritchen/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images Fire: Jae C. Hon/AP)
“Over the past seven years, from Paradise to the Palisades, we've seen devastating fire after devastating fire, and our leadership in California has done a truly terrible job of addressing the underlying problems.” ”
Gallagher said he feels state and local leadership have been “woefully inadequate” in responding to the wildfires.
“When we see no water coming out of a fire hydrant, no one seems to know why. And when the governor says, 'Okay, I'll look into it,' it's because we're active in society. “We need real decisive and strong leadership,” Gallagher continued.
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“This is kind of a sideshow for a time when we really need something definitive…”
“Perhaps the greatest contrast is how DeSantis handled the Florida hurricanes and how Gavin handled this disaster. You can clearly see the difference in leadership.”
Izzy Gurdon, communications director for Newsom's office, fought criticism of the governor's response to the wildfires.
“The governor is focused on protecting people, not playing politics, and making sure our firefighters have all the resources they need,” Gardon told FOX News Digital.
“The governor's focus is not on politics but on protecting people and making sure our firefighters have all the resources they need.”
The governor's office shared a letter regarding the lack of water at fire hydrants, saying, “While the overall water supply in Southern California is not the problem, the movement of water during initial response is.”
“That's why @CAGovernor Mr. Newsom ordered a complete independent review of LADWP. This will never happen again,” X's post said.
Gallagher said that while the situation we're seeing in California right now is heartbreaking, it's time for everyone to come together to help people recover and then “finally fundamentally address California's problems.” said that he had come.
“It's a lack of infrastructure. It's a lack of proper management of the land to ensure the safety of the community,” Gallagher said.
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The Palisades Fire ravages neighborhoods in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles on Tuesday, January 7, 2025, amid high winds. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Gallagher said he and other lawmakers fought for $1 billion in funding for catastrophic wildfire preparedness and prevention in 2021, addressing both wildfire prevention and state insurance market issues. needs to be addressed, adding that spending has since been significantly cut.
“It's really about getting back to the basics of government, public safety, public goods, infrastructure, which Gavin Newsom and the Democrats have done a terrible job of. They're not fulfilling the basic fundamental duties of government. They're chasing all kinds of other liberal fantasies and don't care about the basics.”
Aerial view showing debris from a burnt building after the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA on January 10, 2025. (Reuters/Daniel Cole)
Governor Newsom's office disputes these claims, saying that under the governor's leadership, CalFIRE's budget has nearly doubled since 2019, from $2 billion to $3.8 billion.
His office added that water storage in Southern California is at record levels and Southern California is not running out of water.
”There's a lot of misinformation out there. Truth: California did not cut its fire department budget. We have nearly doubled the size of our firefighting force and built the world's largest aviation firefighting force. “CA has increased forest management tenfold since taking office,” Newsom wrote in a post to X.
Republican Sen. Brian Dahl argued that Newsom turned his back on Californians when he vetoed a bill aimed at protecting fire victims, a charge Newsom disputed. are.
“A reminder: Newsom turned his back on wildfire victims by vetoing my bill, SB 542. This bill would pay for victims of the 2022 Factory Fire and the 2021 Dixie Fire. I'm sure he's planning to tax Southern California residents on their settlement payments too!''
Newsom's office said he “fully supports the intent of these bills.”
“In 2022, I signed legislation that provides a similar tax deduction for settlement claims arising from catastrophic wildfires that occurred in the past five years. Future measures such as The following year, Congress enacted additional wildfire income tax exemptions in the 2023-24 Budget Act. These proposals will be included in next year's budget framework.” He wrote in a previous article Sent a letter to the California State Senate.
Newsom also received backlash from several lawmakers for adding wildfire relief to his agenda after calling for a “special session” to “stop Trump” in the state when President-elect Trump takes office. .
“The political gamesmanship over the fires is officially over,” Republican Rep. Greg Wallis said in a post on X. “It's wrong to suggest that we attach strings to federal disaster relief.”
“It is wrong to link fire relief funding to the partisan 'stop Trump' California special legislative funding bill. There are no restrictions. We will help victims and get much-needed relief money to them. Let’s focus on that.”
Fellow Republican Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones echoed Wallis, calling Newsom's special session “insulting.”
In a post on They seem to be at odds with each other.”
“I urge my Democratic colleagues to look past Mr. Newsom's divisive political agenda and focus solely on disaster relief. That $50 million would be far better spent on recovering and rebuilding fire victims. “It's respectful and bipartisan,” Jones continued.
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The special session was originally scheduled to be held on Tuesday, but was canceled due to the continuing threat of wildfires.
Fox News Digital's Charles Creitz contributed to this report.
Stepheny Price is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. Story tips and ideas can be sent to stepheny.price@fox.com.
