Assembly hearing urges focus on home hardening and coordinated funding to curb wildfire losses

Chair Bennett convened an informational hearing of the California State Assembly Budget Committee on wildfire resilience, where legislators, agency leaders and conservation and insurance experts agreed the state must prioritize preventing home losses as climate‑driven fires grow costlier and more frequent. The hearing was informational only; no votes were taken.

Lawmakers and witnesses said they want policymakers to emphasize home hardening and defensible‑space work that makes houses less likely to ignite, while maintaining funding and capacity for landscape and response needs. Rachel Ehlers of the Legislative Analyst's Office told the committee that state wildfire spending has grown sharply but is mostly one‑time: recent increases include roughly $3.6 billion in wildfire resilience spending identified in the LAO’s review for 2021 through planned out‑years, with a surface commitment of about $200 million annually from the state’s greenhouse gas reduction fund to 2029. Ehlers added the state should weigh trade‑offs between response and resilience and set priorities across differing regional needs.

Ken Pimlott, retired CAL FIRE director, said the state must…