Los Angeles wildfires: California governor Newsom criticized for ‘sideshow’ as he defends state response

A California lawmaker has called for drastic changes. Fighting and preventing wildfires.

“There are a lot of parallels. And that’s part of the problem here, is that I don’t know that we really learn from the past,” Assembly Minority Leader James Gallagher told Fox News Digital.

Gallagher was describing the 2019 Paradise Fire that hit his district and said more needs to be done to deal with and prevent devastating wildfires. Across the Golden State.

“It’s the same type of devastating wind-driven fire. We still see movement of dead and dying timber and underbrush on federal land, in this case, whole communities are destroyed,” Gallagher said. said.

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“So from Paradise to the Palisades, over the last seven years, we’ve seen devastating fire after devastating fire and our leadership in California has done a really poor job of addressing the underlying problem.”

Gallagher said he feels that way. State and local leadership There have been “severe deficiencies” in how they respond to wildfires.

“When you just see water not coming out of fire hydrants and then nobody knows why. And then the governor says, ‘OK, I’m going to investigate.’ , it’s kind of a sideshow at a time when we need real assertive, strong leadership,” Gallagher continued.

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“It’s just a kind of sideshow at a time when we need real meaning…”

“Probably the best contrast to draw is how DeSantis handled the hurricanes in Florida versus how Gavin handled this disaster. You can definitely see the difference in leadership.”

Izzy Garden, director of communications for Newsom’s office, countered criticism of the governor’s handling of the wildfires.

“The governor is focused on keeping people safe, not playing politics, and making sure firefighters have all the resources they need,” Garden told Fox News Digital.

“The governor is focused on keeping people safe, not playing politics, and making sure firefighters have all the resources they need.”

The governor’s office shared a letter addressing water hydrants running out of water, stating that “while the overall water supply in Southern California is not an issue, the movement of water in the initial response is a was the problem.”

“That’s why. @CAGovernor Newsom has ordered a full, independent review of LADWP. It can’t happen again,” the post on X read.

Gallagher said that while what we’re seeing in California right now is heartbreaking, it’s time for everyone to come together and unite to help people recover, but then “eventually Primarily solve California’s problems.”

“It’s a lack of infrastructure. It’s a lack of proper management of our lands to make sure communities are safe,” Gallagher said.

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In 2021, he and other lawmakers fought for $1 billion in funding to combat and prevent catastrophic wildfires, Gallagher said, adding that wildfire prevention and state insurance Both market issues must be addressed and appropriations have since come down sharply.

“It’s really about getting back to the fundamentals of government, public safety, public goods and infrastructure that Gavin Newsom and the Democrats are doing a terrible job of right now. They’re not taking care of that basic fundamental duty of government. are, and they’re basically going after all sorts of other liberal pipe dreams, and don’t care about the basics.”

Governor Newsom’s office has denied those claims and said that under the governor’s leadership CalFIRE’s budget has nearly doubled since 2019, going from $2 billion to $3.8 billion.

His office added that water reserves in Southern California are at record levels and there is no shortage of water in Southern California.

“There is a lot of misinformation out there. Fact: CA did not cut our firefighting budget. We have almost doubled the size of our firefighting army and built the largest aerial firefighting fleet in the world. Since we took office, CA has increased forest management tenfold,” Newsom wrote in a post on X.

Republican Senator Brian Dahle claimed that Newsom had turned his back on Californians when he vetoed a bill to protect fire victims, which Newsom disputed.

“Friendly reminder: Newsom turned his back on wildfire victims by vetoing my bill, SB 542 – a measure that would have made settlement payments to victims of the 2022 Mill Fire and 2021 Dixie Fire subject to income tax. Will be excluded. I bet he’s planning on taxing the social dwellers as well!”

Newsom’s office argued that he “wholeheartedly supports the intent of these bills.”

“In 2022, I signed legislation that provided a similar tax exemption for settlement claims resulting from catastrophic wildfires in the previous five years. In signing these bills, I said Future measures, like those bills, must be included as part of the annual budget. Given the implications for the general fund, the Legislature enacted an income tax exclusion for 2023-24 Wildfires in Budget Act As such, I strongly encourage the Legislature to incorporate these proposals into next year’s budget framework.” Letter to the California State Senate.

Newsom also got a reaction by several lawmakers when they called a “special session” to “Trump-proof” the state for President-elect Trump’s inauguration and then put wildfire relief on the agenda.

“Officially done with the political game on fire. It’s wrong to suggest putting strings on federal disaster relief,” wrote Greg Wallace, a Republican assemblyman, in a post on X.

“Linking fire relief funds to a partisan ‘Trump-proofing’ California special session funding bill is wrong. No strings attached. Let’s focus on helping victims and getting victims the relief money they desperately need.”

Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones, also a Republican, called Wallace’s special session with Newsom “insulting.”

“Democrat lawmakers appear at odds over Newsom’s insulting special session, a major emergency for L.A. fire with $50 million in politically motivated funding to sue Trump. Let’s raise the funding,” Jones wrote in a post on X.

“I urge my fellow Democrats to rise above Newsom’s divisive political agenda and focus entirely on disaster relief. That $50 million would be better spent helping fire victims recover and rebuild.” “It’s respectful and neutral,” Jones continued.

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The special session was originally scheduled for Tuesday but was canceled due to the continued threat of wildfires.

Fox News Digital’s Charles Kratz contributed to this report.