L.A. fires still rage as possible reasons emerge

Firefighters continue to battle wildfires that broke out Tuesday in Southern California as more than 100,000 residents remain under evacuation orders. 

To date, the fires have killed at least 24 people and destroyed 12,000 structures. Powerful Santa Ana winds, which have come on the heels of an unusually dry season, show no signs of letting up — and officials are bracing for more fire threats through the week. 

The largest of the three active fires in Los Angeles County is the Palisades Fire, which grew to more than 23,000 acres and was 13% contained as of Sunday evening. Federal officials are looking into whether the fire could have originated from a fire that began New Year’s Eve.

Several dozen miles northeast is the deadly Eaton Fire, where investigators are scrutinizing an electrical transmission tower as a possible reason behind the blaze. And officials from the Southern California Edison utility company are investigating if downed equipment is responsible for the Hurst Fire.

On Sunday Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order to suspend requirements from the state’s hallmark environmental law in order to rebuild homes and businesses in the affected region faster. AccuWeather estimates that damages and the economic hit to the regional economy is now at least $250 billion.

The state’s insurance commissioner, Ricardo Lara, said the fires are expected to “complicate an already complicated market,” and has banned insurance companies from canceling or rejecting renewals on policies for one year. 

Republican state lawmakers are urging Newsom to call a special session focused on wildfires and the state’s insurance market crisis. 

And after securing federal relief aid from the Biden administration, Gov. Newsom extended an invitation to President-elect Donald Trump Friday to visit California and survey the damage, write CalMatters’ Alexei Koseff and Yue Stella Yu.

Trump has publicly slammed Newsom and the state’s water policies as part of the blame for the fires. (Severe winds and an arid regional climate are why the fires are so intense; sending more water from the state’s north would not have helped.) Though Trump has yet to respond to Newsom’s offer, he did take to social media to describe the officials handling the wildfires as “incompetent.”

Learn more about Newsom, Trump and the L.A. wildfires from Alexei and Stella’s story. And check out this visual essay from CalMatters’ contributing photographers, who captured the devastation first-hand.

From CalMatters Digital Democracy reporter Ryan Sabalow:

As fires rage through Southern California and exacerbate the state’s insurance crisis, the state Senate has no one in charge of its Insurance Committee due to questions surrounding a federal corruption investigation.

Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire said he is waiting to hear from federal prosecutors about Sen. Susan Rubio, who’s been questioned in a federal corruption probe, before making a decision about reappointing her to her previous position as chair of the Senate Insurance Committee.

Rubio, a Democrat from Baldwin Park, said she’s “currently not involved” in the federal corruption investigation that has already ensnared a handful of other officials in San Bernardino County, Compton, Commerce and Baldwin Park. 

Federal officials have not identified Rubio by name in the case. However, there is nobody else matching the description of “Person 20,” who is accused in recently released federal court documents of asking for $240,000 in bribes from a cannabis company and accepting $30,000 in illegal campaign contributions. The allegations stem from when Rubio was a member of the Baldwin Park City Council.

Read more here.

On Friday Gov. Newsom’s office detailed its initial state budget proposal for 2025-26, kicking off negotiations with the governor and legislative leaders that will last through June when he and lawmakers must agree to a final budget deal.

As CalMatters’ Mikhail Zinshteyn and Stella explain, some of the takeaways of the $322 billion spending proposal include:

• New state agencies: Newsom wants to create two new agencies focused on consumer protections and homelessness and housing policies. So far, details are scant: The administration did not propose new spending on homelessness, nor did it provide details on how existing departments would be reorganized.
• Funding for ballot measures: After voters approved a handful of ballot measures last year, Newsom plans to allocate $2.7 billion in new climate spending from Proposition 4; $8.5 billion for school facilities from Prop. 2; and $6.4 billion for mental health housing from Prop. 1.
• Spending cuts: The governor proposed to cut prison and corrections spending by $400 million. He also seeks to slash state support to the University of California and California State University by a combined total of $772 million in keeping with a deal he agreed to with lawmakers last year.

Newsom warned that the incoming Donald Trump administration and the Southern California fires are two wildcards that could affect the budget.

Republicans lawmakers criticized the spending plan, including GOP leader Brian Jones of San Diego, who said the proposal covers up Newsom’s “complete financial mismanagement” instead of “tightening the belt on new spending.”

Read more here.