California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed a $2.5 billion aid package to help his state recover from the devastating wildfires that took lives, destroyed homes and buildings, and displaced tens of thousands of people. However, not all of the bill is being met with praise. Among the allocation of funds is $1 million earmarked for "technical assistance" in rebuilding schools. With the urgency of rebuilding communities and restoring essential infrastructure on many people’s minds, many are questioning why a large sum of the aid is going toward emergency responses and only a tiny fraction to rebuilding schools. Critics argue that Newsom focuses on bureaucratic processes that could delay recovery efforts.
The two wildfires that wreaked havoc on southern California destroyed nearly 40,000 acres of the state and 12,000 structures, with an early estimate of the total damage at more than $250 billion. However, Newsom believes that only $1 million should go toward rebuilding schools.
According to a press release from Newsom’s office, the aid package includes $4 million earmarked to “expedite rebuilding” by streamlining permitting processes. The Department of Housing and Community Development will distribute this funding to local governments affected by the fires, aiming to provide extra resources for planning reviews and building inspections to speed up the approval process during recovery. However, less than half of that amount will go toward providing technical assistance to local educational agencies affected by the fires.
Conversely, $2.5 billion will be used to accelerate the initial response and recovery efforts following the wildfire. This includes funding for emergency protective measures, evacuations, survivor sheltering, debris removal and cleanup, post-fire hazard assessments, such as flash floods and debris flows, traffic management, and other critical emergency response operations.
According to H.D. Palmer, spokesperson for California's Department of Finance, the funds will be drawn from the state’s reserve account for economic uncertainties, which had a balance of approximately $8.3 billion as of January 10. Former President Joe Biden announced that the federal government would reimburse 100 percent of state expenses incurred within 180 days. However, President Donald Trump shot that down. Instead, he proposed a deal to Newsom, offering additional aid to the state if it implemented voter ID laws.
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Meanwhile, as the wildfires still rage on and people still don’t have homes, Newsom proposed a deal with Democrats to taunt Trump.
He and state Democrats quickly moved to allocate $50 million in taxpayer funds to challenge the Trump administration and protect illegal immigrants from deportation. This highlights where Newsom’s priorities truly lie.
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