Newsom Adds La Wildfire Funding To Trump-proofing Special Session

SACRAMENTO, California — Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday expanded a special Trump-resistance legislative session to include billions of dollars in wildfire spending as catastrophic blazes tear through Los Angeles County.

Newsom’s move, endorsed by Democratic legislative leaders, came as Republicans knocked them for striking a $50 million deal to beef up state and local legal defenses against the incoming White House amid what may be the costliest fires in U.S. history.

Including disaster aid in a special session that originally focused only on resisting Donald Trump offers Democrats another opportunity to highlight the president-elect’s threats to withhold federal relief from California. Newsom has repeatedly warned that Trump could hinder the state’s ability to respond to fires, earthquakes and floods, though he did not echo that messaging in his announcement Monday.

“California is organizing a Marshall Plan to help Los Angeles rebuild faster and stronger — including billions in new and accelerated state funding so we can move faster to deliver for the thousands who’ve lost their homes and livelihoods in these firestorms,” Newsom said Monday. “To the people of Los Angeles: We have your back.”

The governor and legislative leaders are proposing at least $2.5 billion to fight wildfires. Newsom wants to fast-track $1 billion in state emergency aid and set aside $1.5 billion extra for wildfire preparedness programs.

The $1 billion in emergency response funding should be eligible for reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to Newsom’s office. But since the fires broke out, Trump and congressional Republicans have discussed tying disaster aid for the California fires to a debt ceiling increase.

Newsom had been texting with state Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and Senate Pro Tem Mike McGuire about whether a special session focused solely on the fires was necessary, the governor said on “Pod Save America” over the weekend. He said he was open to any option that would “move the needle.”

California lawmakers don’t need a special session to quickly allocate the fire money, which will also provide schools with technical assistance as they rebuild and reopen. But the sessions can help Democratic leaders unify their caucuses around time-sensitive proposals.

People “are scared and angry, and we must act fast to expedite resources for clean-up and recovery,” Rivas said, adding that Los Angeles-area legislators will bring “feedback to the discussion as we consider the Governor’s proposal.”

Newsom’s office did not set a deadline for passing the coming package of proposals, which will fold the fire aid into funding for state and local litigation against the incoming White House. But before the disasters struck, Democrats were aiming to get the legal funding in place by Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration.

Half of the $50 million would fund efforts by the state Department of Justice to fight the federal government in court, while the rest would go into grants for nonprofit legal organizations that represent and otherwise support immigrants facing detention, deportation and wage theft.

“California faces two massive challenges: Horrific destructive wildfires in Los Angeles … 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,” Senate Budget Committee Chair Scott Wiener said in a statement earlier Monday.