California lawmakers are calling for major changes in wildfire suppression and prevention.

"There are a lot of similarities. That's part of the problem, I don't know if we've really learned the lessons of the past," Assembly Minority Leader James Gallagher told Fox News Digital.

Gallagher described the Paradise Fire that struck his region in 2019 and said more needs to be done to extinguish and prevent catastrophic wildfires across the Golden State.

"This is the same type of catastrophic wind-driven fires," Gallagher said. "We're still seeing the movement of dead and dying timber and brush on federal lands, and in this case, destroying entire communities."

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"So from paradise to fence, we've seen one catastrophic fire after another over the past seven years, and our leadership in California has done a really poor job of addressing the underlying issues."

Gallagher said he believes state and local leadership is "sorely lacking" in responding to wildfires.

"When you just see no water coming out of a fire hydrant, no one seems to know why. And then the governor says, 'Well, I'm going to look into it,' and that's just a sideshow of our time. There needs to be a really clear, strong leadership," Gallagher continued.

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"This is just a sideshow at a time when we need to really know for sure..."

"Probably the best comparison is the way DeSantis handled the hurricane in Florida versus the way Gavin handled the disaster. You can definitely see the difference in leadership."

Izzy Gardon, communications director for Newsom's office, pushed back on criticism of the governor's handling of wildfires.

"The governor's focus is on protecting people, not playing politics, and making sure firefighters have all the resources they need," Garden told Fox News Digital.

"The governor is focused on protecting people, not playing politics, and making sure firefighters have all the resources they need."

The governor's office shared a letter addressing the fire hydrant shortage, stating that "while Southern California's overall water supply is not an issue, water mobility in the initial response is an issue."

"This is why @CAGovernor Newsom ordered a comprehensive, independent review of LADWP. This can't happen again," the post on X read.

Gallagher said that while what we're seeing in California right now is heartbreaking, it's time for everyone to come together to help people recover and then "ultimately address the root causes of California's problems."

"It's a lack of infrastructure. A lack of proper management of our lands to keep the community safe," Gallagher said.

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Gallagher said he and other lawmakers pushed for $1 billion in funding in 2021 to combat and prevent catastrophic wildfires, adding that both wildfire prevention and state insurance market issues must be addressed since then. Allocations have been significantly reduced.

"This is really about getting back to the fundamentals of government, public safety, public goods and infrastructure, and Gavin Newsom and the Democrats are doing a terrible job of that. They're not fulfilling the basic duties of government, they're essentially All the while pursuing all kinds of other liberal daydreams without caring about fundamental issues.”

Governor Newsom's office has disputed those claims and said 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 Southern California's reservoirs have reached record levels and Southern California is not short of water.

"There is a lot of misinformation out there. The Truth: California is not cutting our firefighting budget. We have nearly doubled the size of our firefighting force and established the largest aerial firefighting fleet in the world. Forest management in California has increased tenfold since we took office," Newsom wrote in a post on X.

Newsom disputed Republican Sen. Brian Dalle's claim that Newsom was turning his back on California residents by vetoing a bill aimed at protecting fire victims.

“Friendly reminder: Newsom rejected wildfire victims by vetoing my bill, SB 542 — a measure that would have excluded settlement payments to victims of the 2022 Mill Fire and 2021 Dixie Fire from income taxes. I bet he plans to tax settlement payments to Southern California residents as well!”

Newsom's office argued that he "wholeheartedly supports the intent of these bills."

"In 2022, I signed legislation that would provide similar tax exemptions for settlement claims resulting from the catastrophic wildfires that have occurred over the past five years. In signing these bills, I stated that future measures, like these bills, should be included in the annual budget As part of considering the general fund impact, the Legislature enacted income tax exemptions for additional wildfires in the 2023-24 budget bill, so I strongly encourage the Legislature to include these in the proposal in next year's budget framework." Sen wrote in a previous letter sent to the California Senate.

Newsom also faced strong opposition from several lawmakers when he called a "special session" to "prevent" the state when President-elect Trump took office and then added wildfire relief to the agenda.

"The political game is officially over. Proposing limits on federal disaster relief is wrong," Republican Congressman Greg Wallis wrote in a post on X.

"Tying fire rescue funding to a partisan 'anti-Trump' California special session appropriations bill is wrong. No strings attached. Let's focus on helping victims and get victims much-needed relief funding."

Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones, a Republican, echoed Wallis' comments, calling Newsom's special session "insulting."

Jones wrote in a post on Motives for funding are mixed up.”

“I strongly urge my Democratic colleagues to look beyond Newsom’s divisive political agenda and focus solely on disaster relief. This $50 million would be better spent helping fire victims recover and rebuild. The political angle and conditions for abandoning aid – Fire Victims deserve a response that is respectful and nonpartisan," Jones continued.

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The special meeting was initially scheduled for Tuesday but was canceled due to the ongoing threat of wildfires.

Fox News Digital's Charles Creitz contributed to this report.