State lawmakers respond to L.A. fires with bills to halt price gouging, help schools
State senators gathered in Pasadena on Friday afternoon to announce a slate of wildfire recovery bills, including proposals to protect renters, expand firefighter staffing and fund programs for displaced K-12 students and community colleges.
The lawmakers called the package of 13 bills an effort to "invest in a fire-safe" California.
"This is one of the toughest times that the city and county of L.A. have seen in almost a century," Senate Pro Tem Mike McGuire (D-North Coast) said outside of Pasadena First United Methodist Church. McGuire and legislative leaders promised to address those affected by the wildfires that burned through swaths of Los Angeles last month.
Though it's typical for bills to go to the Assembly in June and land on the governor's desk in September, McGuire said he hopes to "move some of these bills quickly through the Legislature and put it on the damn governor's desk here in the next 60 days.'
Read more: California lawmakers to consider expediting insurance claims after L.A. fires
Sen. Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica), who represents Pacific Palisades and co-authored three bills in the package, said the legislation is about "doing all that we can to lower the chances of a disaster like this happening again and also giving them the relief that they so deeply deserve."
One bill authored by Sens. Tom Umberg (D-Santa Ana) and Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Los Angeles) will add civil penalties to protect those who are displaced from price-gouging on temporary housing, lodging or rentals. It would also authorize the state attorney general to issue warrants against violators.
Another proposal will require companies to provide temporary mortgage loan relief. If enacted, it would allow tenants to get back a portion of their already-paid rent if they had to move because of the wildfires. Mobile homes located "in areas subject to a state of emergency" would get temporary rent controls.
Sen. Susan Rubio (D-Baldwin Park), who chairs the Senate Insurance Committee, and her colleagues introduced a plan to form a commission to centralize wildfire mitigation efforts and ensure homeowners and developers make buildings more fire-proof.
Read more: State senator retains key role over fire insurance laws despite cannabis corruption probe
Another bill authored by Rubio and Sasha Renée Pérez (D-Burbank) proposes expanding the one-year non-renewal moratorium on insurance, which is currently for residential policies that are within the ZIP Codes of the wildfires, to also cover commercial policies. The authors argue this will protect small businesses and condominiums after wildfires.
McGuire introduced the first part of the sweeping package earlier this week. Called the Fight for Firefighters Act of 2025, it would make around 3,000 seasonal firefighters, who work nine months out of the year and are laid off for the winter months, into year-round employees.
'Let's be blunt, wildfires do not take three months off,' McGuire said at a news conference.
The plan would also make the state's vegetation management crews and Cal Fire engines operational all year. The proposal, his office said, could cost the state upward of $185 million a year and is a 'desperately needed' staffing plan as the West continues to burn at historic rates.
Last month, Democratic members of the Assembly introduced bills focused on housing for displaced Angelenos.
Read more: 'The cavalry is here': L.A.-area lawmakers pledge to fast-track fire recovery and aid
This includes legislation that could make it easier for homeowners to get a coastal development permit for Accessory Dwelling Units. Other bills include one that will create a temporary eviction exemption to allow those displaced to remain in their temporary homes; another would allow anyone who lost their home to receive up to a year of mortgage deferral.
Republicans from across the aisle have also introduced bills, including an array that focus on stiffening criminal penalties to address recent cases of those suspected of looting and other criminal activity during the wildfires.
Two were introduced last month that would increase penalties for looting, making it a felony to commit a burglary during a large wildfire or other types of disaster. One bill from Sen. Suzette Martinez Valladares (R-Santa Clarita) would make it a felony to impersonate a police officer or a firefighter during a state of emergency.
Legislators also want to make it a felony to fly a drone over a scene of an emergency and toughen the sentence for aggravated arson if a wildfire destroys more than 500 acres. A man recently pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in federal court in Los Angeles after his drone collided with a firefighting aircraft working on the Palisades fire.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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