Gov. Gavin Newsom signs $2.5 billion wildfire recovery package for Los Angeles County
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation Thursday providing $2.5 billion in funding to recovery efforts in Los Angeles County, where two massive wildfires killed 28 people and left behind a trail of destruction this month.
Newsom signed the bills alongside state lawmakers, city leaders and first responders during a news conference at Willard Elementary School in Pasadena, near where the Eaton Fire devastated the unincorporated community of Altadena as neighborhoods of homes, schools, stores and churches were completely destroyed. The legislative package looks to speed up rebuilding efforts, fund cleanups and issue legal protections and other relief for wildfire survivors.
Recovery efforts are just beginning as evacuees return to their neighborhoods. Some areas remain without power, ash polluting the air and the few houses still standing surrounded by burned buildings and piles of debris. Among the communities hardest hit are Altadena, north of Pasadena, and the coastal community of Pacific Palisades
Several policy proposals for relief and recovery in LA were detailed by California lawmakers last week, many of them saying they were trying to move quickly to get the bills passed.
State Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas said Thursday the bills passed with "very strong bipartisan support."
"I think everyone in our legislature understands the urgency of this moment," Rivas said. "And I hope that the federal government understands that urgency as well. This is not the time for politics and some political games and finger-pointing. We need to come together to rebuild this great American city. And I urge President Trump to provide federal dollars quickly – without conditions."
A day earlier, President Donald Trump threatened to potentially withhold federal disaster aid from fire-torn areas of Los Angeles County, telling Fox News' Sean Hannity he doesn't think the federal government should give California "anything" until certain policies are changed. Newsom has refuted claims by Trump attacking the his leadership and policymaking related to the fires.
Trump made the statement on disaster aid just ahead of a planned visit to Los Angeles. Newsom had invited him to survey the damage first-hand and meet with firefighters and survivors in a letter sent the week the Palisades and Eaton fires started. He had not responded to Newsom's invite publicly but told NBC News last week that he "probably" plans to come to the region.
On Thursday, Senate President Pro Tempore Mike McGuire described the newly signed relief package as a show of the state's commitment to helping the LA area recover and heal. "Your rebuild, your comeback is California's top priority," he said as he addressed the Southern California county.
"No matter if you lose your home to a hurricane in Florida, you lose your business to a flood in Louisiana, you lose your ranch to a brush fire in Texas — we're all Americans first," McGuire said. "And as Americans, we go through tough times as a country. And there are moments in our lives where the challenge is bigger than one — bigger than one community, one county and one state."
"And California is going through a tough time," he said.
President Joe Biden has said that the federal government will pay for 100% of the disaster response costs for the Los Angeles wildfires. He visited the region after approving a major disaster declaration, which made wildfire survivors eligible for FEMA grants.
Meanwhile, federal relief loans are also being offered to LA County tenants, homeowners, businesses and nonprofits through the Small Business Administration (SBA). So far, $52 million in these disaster relief loans have been approved for wildfire survivors, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced Thursday, with more than $50 million going toward homeowners and renters.