Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Wildfire Funding Policy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Lawmakers, fire officials urge faster grants and steady funding to scale wildfire prevention
Summary
At a Select Committee hearing in Sonoma County, local officials and community leaders urged the California Legislature to streamline grant processes, create durable mitigation funding, and support county-level prevention coordinators so successful local programs (CWPPs, block-captain networks, home-hardening efforts) can be implemented and maintained.
Assemblymember Connolly convened a Select Committee hearing in Santa Rosa to examine lessons from the 2017 Tubbs Fire and the city’s subsequent recovery, pressing for legislative changes that would help local jurisdictions scale prevention and sustain long-term resilience.
Local leaders told legislators that technical plans and community programs developed after Tubbs — including Santa Rosa’s Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) and the county’s block-captain networks — proved effective but now depend on faster, predictable funding. Paul Lowenthal, Division Chief Fire Marshal for Santa Rosa, said the city’s CWPP lists 64 action items and nine objectives but implementation repeatedly stalled while HMGP and other federal grant notices of interest languished in review. “Anything that can help streamline the turnaround times on grants,” Lowenthal said, “would be huge.”
Panelists described practical, near-term needs: a stable source of mitigation grant funds, short-term implementation support to meet reporting and compliance burdens, and modest funding to incubate community-led programs. Brad Sherwood, a block-captain leader in Mark West, argued that volunteer-led networks require seed grants and minimal paid staff to remain effective across jurisdictions. “Block captain programs and systems should be in place now,” he said, adding that sustained funding would prevent reliance on volunteers’ personal funds.
Insurance and financing were discussed as levers to drive mitigation. Amy Bach of United Policyholders described insurer engagement with wildfire-prepared-home standards and urged creative funding models — including mechanisms that have insurers contribute a portion of premium taxes toward mitigation grants, citing recent legislation in other states as a possible model. “Find money,” Bach said. “That’s an easy thing for me to ask.”
Legislators and witnesses pointed to Senate Bill 973 (county-level wildfire prevention coordinators) as a pragmatic way to institutionalize coordination and accelerate project prioritization across jurisdictions. Scott Orr, director of Permit Sonoma, urged that new state directions avoid adding more planning requirements and instead focus on funding implementation: “We’ve got the plans — we need resources to do the work.”
Next steps: panelists urged the committee to pursue statutory or budget actions that shorten grant processing timelines, create or identify durable mitigation funding, and expand support for county-level prevention coordinators and community program incubators. The hearing closed with a commitment to follow up on potential legislative remedies and funding options.
