Senate Republicans Outline Decades of Democrats Killing Wildfire Prevention Bills

With several wildfires still blazing in Los Angeles, the Globe has been reflecting on how and why this is happening, especially with the state’s recent history of devastating and deadly wildfires.

We harkened back to former Gov. Jerry Brown, who signed many bad bills into law which undermine California’s wildfire management, sane energy policies, energy independence. He even vetoed a bipartisan wildfire management bill in 2016, despite unanimous passage by the Legislature, 75-0 in the Assembly and 39-0 in the Senate.

I reported in 2018:

“As California residents were burned out of their towns, homes, neighborhoods, schools, hospitals and businesses, Gov. Jerry Brown was jetting around the world spouting climate change propaganda, and calling the fires California’s ‘new normal.’ Gov. Brown had many chances to sincerely and realistically address California’s increasing wildfires since his election in 2011, but instead chose to play politics, placing his new friends at the United Nations over the people of California.”

“SB 1463 by Senator John Moorlach would have given local governments more say in fire-prevention efforts through the Public Utilities Commission proceeding making maps of fire hazard areas around utility lines. In a gross display of politics, this is especially pertinent given that Cal Fire and the state’s media are now blaming the largest utility in the state for the latest wildfires,” I reported in 2018.

While hindsight is always 20-20, California was on fire when this bill made its way through the Legislature and on to Jerry Brown’s desk.”

Other good bills were killed in Democrat-controlled legislative committees, never to see the light of day. Partisan politics took precedence over public safety.

California Senate Republicans just issued a stunning report on years of proposed legislation that was killed by Democrats.

“Were these simply missed opportunities or was it negligence by Democrat supermajority lawmakers?”

Take a look through 15 pages of bills, going back nearly 20 years, embedded below, or Click HERE to read it.

“Over the past two decades, Senate Republicans have worked to lower the risk of wildfires in California, to try to prevent the inevitable tragedies like what is now consuming vast swaths of Los Angeles County,” the Senate Republican Caucus said.

“Senate Republicans also have worked on fixing outdated insurance regulations. It’s undeniable that the insurance industry is imploding in California, due in no small part to Proposition 103. Decades of misguided policies have created a destabilized homeowners insurance market, which is taking a devastating toll on homeowners and renters alike.”

20+ years of solutions from Senate Republicans include efforts on:

• Wildfire prevention
• Public safety
• CEQA
• Insurance

“While some of our legislative proposals, ideas and suggestions have been enacted, albeit often after years of delay by legislative Democrats, many more were not.”

Voters in Los Angeles, having just lost their homes, businesses, schools, neighborhoods, and some lost their lives, must remember this.

CALIFORNIA SENATE REPUBLICANS - A Long Legislative Record of Working to Protect Californians - Homes - and Communities - 1.22.2025_0