SACRAMENTO, California — Lawmakers are floating dozens of bills in the wake of Los Angeles’ wildfires aimed at some of California’s most perennial policy knots.
The majority of the bills are focused on boosting recovery in Los Angeles, fighting wildfires and stabilizing housing insurance. The latest came Thursday from Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D), who announced a package of at least five new bills to speed up rebuilding and construction of short-term housing for victims.
“If we need to pass new legislation quickly, we will do it,” Rivas said. “If existing laws are throwing up roadblocks to relief, then we will work to remove those roadblocks.”
The legislative proposals are falling mostly along party lines, with Republicans — who’ve long griped about fires burning through overgrown forests in their rural districts — broadly focusing on forest management. Democrats — who are reckoning with cost-of-living concerns that helped fuel Trump’s rise — are all about housing
