California lawmakers approve $2.5 billion in wildfire aid

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two bills on Thursday that provide 25 emergency services in response to wildfires in Los Angeles County that have devastated communities, destroyed schools and damaged public infrastructure. billion in state aid.

“This money will be available immediately,” Newsom said Thursday afternoon, standing in the auditorium of a Pasadena elementary school that reopened to students earlier in the day, a few days from the Eaton Fire. mile. “We want to get those dollars in real time.”

Dozens of people, including Mayor Kathryn Bass, Los Angeles County Mayor Kathryn Barger and first responders and legislative leader Lindsey Horvath stood behind the governor On blue wood risers. Newsom said he had just arrived from the Hughes Fire, a Southern California fire north of Los Angeles that exploded on Wednesday.

Both Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister) emphasized the bipartisan nature of the legislative effort, with Rivas specifically urging President Trump to follow suit and quickly moving to Los Angeles to follow suit.

These bills, along with a Democratic super-marriage in the Legislature with Republican support, direct funding toward vast emergency response and recovery efforts, including evacuations, shelters, hazardous waste removal, debris removal, debris removal, traffic control and environmental test.

“Thousands of our neighbours, our families and friends need help,” McGuire said during a debate in the House of Lords earlier in the day.

“This means we need to be able to move with urgency, put aside our differences, and focus on providing the financial resources to put boots on the ground, as well as the policy relief needed to get communities cleared up and communities rebuilt.”

The fires that started on January 7 killed at least 28 people and destroyed more than 16,000 structures in Altadena and Pacific Palisades.

Firefighters have made significant progress in containing the Palisade and Eaton fires but continue to battle dangerous winds and dry conditions that have brought new blazes over the past few days.

After the wildfires broke out, Newsom expanded the ongoing special session to include funding for Los Angeles. The governor initially called the special session two days after the November election to ask lawmakers to provide more money to the California Department of Justice to wage a legal fight against President Trump.

During a visit this month, then-President Biden pledged federal funds to support reconstruction efforts. If Trump follows through on that promise, much of the funding approved by the Legislature on Thursday could end up being repaid by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The money currently comes from a state emergency reserve account called the Economic Uncertainty Special Fund.