California’s Senate Republican Caucus slams Democratic lawmakers in a 15-page report detailing years of mismanagement, and Republicans tell the Daily Caller News Foundation that Democrats have a supermajority in the state. He said it had led him in the wrong direction.

State and local leaders in Los Angeles County are facing harsh criticism from Republicans and residents after a devastating wildfire broke out on January 7, causing at least $250 billion in damage. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass have emphasized their focus on helping affected residents, but the state Senate Republican caucus asked. press release While Republicans tried to prevent such a disaster, were there any “missed opportunities” or “negligence” on the part of the Democratic supermajority?

“For the past two decades, Senate Republicans have worked to reduce California’s wildfire risk and prevent inevitable tragedies like the wildfires currently burning through vast swathes of Los Angeles County,” the statement said. said.

“Senate Republicans have also been working to fix outdated insurance regulations. There is no denying that California’s insurance industry is collapsing, in no small part due to Proposition 103,” the statement added. “Decades of bad policy have destabilized the homeowners insurance market, with devastating consequences for homeowners and renters alike.”

The report details 72 bills pushed by Republicans from 2003 to 2024, covering areas such as the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), insurance, public safety, tax cuts, and wildfire prevention. I am doing it. Only 16 of those bills were signed into law, and the rest were rejected, suspended, or vetoed by three different governors, including Newsom.

Under Democratic leadership, Newsom vetoed one insurance bill in 2022 and two other wildfire safety bills in 2021 and 2023. (Related: Exclusive: As wildfires rage and no help arrives, several neighbors take matters into their own hands)

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California Senate Republicans – Long legislative record of working to protect Californians, homes, and… by haley On Scribd

It was introduced in February 2022 by California Republican Sen. Suzette Martinez Validares. Assembly Bill 2450that would have required “the Insurance Commissioner to convene a stakeholder working group” to consider ways to lower insurance costs for home and property owners in high wildfire risk areas. Newsom ultimately vetoed the bill in September 2022, even though it passed the Democratic-controlled state Senate. states There was no need for a “statutory obligation.”

Asked about the report and Newsom’s pushback, Validares, whose district has been affected by the Hughes Fire, which started Wednesday, told DCNF the issue has been years in the making.

“There’s a lot of blame being placed on the mismanagement of the emergency response. But again, I think this is decades of mismanagement,” Validares said. “I would like to point out that part of my view as to why it’s so bad is because of extreme environmentalists and their lobbyists who vehemently oppose any legislation that would actually help reduce fires. They pressured the governor and Democrats not to take up these bills. [and] Don’t overtake them. ”

“Some Democrats have introduced good bills with bipartisan support, but they end up being vetoed because environmentalist lobbyists are influencing the governor to veto them. “It will be,” Validares added. “I truly believe that California environmentalists don’t want the state’s population or opportunity to grow, and are using the environment and CEQA to stop that.”

In response to a California Senate Republican press release, Democratic Sen. Ben Allen, whose district was affected by the Palisades fire, told DCNF in a written statement that lawmakers have taken “strong steps” since 2018. He said climate change has become a natural phenomenon. The disaster gets worse.

“California has unfortunately experienced large-scale wildfires throughout its history, but these days, climate change has certainly made wildfires worse. “We have taken strong steps to strengthen firefighting and wildfire mitigation efforts, including passing a $10 billion climate change bond that includes $10 billion in climate change bonds,” Allen wrote.

“I disagree that we need to take smarter steps when it comes to development in California. If we choose to develop in these areas that we know are prone to wildfires, we must “We need to create and enforce policies that better protect our communities, including safe water supplies, defensible space, and hardening requirements for housing,” Allen added.

California Democrats have long blamed natural disasters on climate change, along with Democratic Rep. Dave Minn. write On social media, he said in a speech about recent fires that the state’s “leaves and plants” were “depleted by climate change.” In June 2024, Newsom proposed cutting the state’s public safety budget to address a $27.6 billion budget deficit. But it’s worth noting that he also wanted to allocate $1.7 billion from the General Fund to the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) for “equity programs” and other “climate priorities.” .

In the wake of the 2025 wildfires, Newsom said “misinformation” was spreading online claiming the state was not running out of water in fire hydrants and reservoirs, despite reports to the contrary. Ta.

“I think he’s telling half-truths, right?” Validares said when asked about Newsom. “Yes, we’ve had two years of record rain and snowfall, which is why our reservoir levels are above average. Two years ago we had two super blooms, but this… shows that we knew there would be problems with the vegetation because of the rain.”

“But a half-truth is that since 2000, Californians have passed two water bonds to build new storage and transportation facilities, and repairs. Yet, not a single new reservoir has been built in 50 years,” Validares added. “Again, that’s a half-truth.”

Echoing his fellow Republican Rep. Bill Ezeiri, California Rep. Bill Ezeiri told the DCNF that because Congress has been completely controlled by Democrats for more than a decade, there is “a complete lack of accountability for all policy failures.” The responsibility lies with the Democratic Party.” But he noted that despite not having majority Republican support, the state Republican Party remains focused on issues that could help protect homeowners.

“I think the biggest thing for us is that there are things that we can control. There are also things that we can’t control. We want to focus on the things that we can control,” Ezeiri said. he told DCNF. “For us, it means managing our forests and wildlands, reducing fuse cords and reducing the risk of ignition sources.”

“For example, a lot of these fires are caused by power lines, so we’ve been pushing for a long time to upgrade that infrastructure and bring it underground,” Esseri said. “Nothing is being done. Nothing is being done on the infrastructure side, cleaning up the forests, clearing the bushes, etc. Of course, there is also the water policy. But it’s just one failure after another.”

While both the Pacific Palisades and Eaton Canyon fires are under investigation, on January 14, Southern California Edison (SCE) was charged with having its operations help ignite the deadly fires that hit Pasadena and Altadena. ) a lawsuit was filed against

One of the claims, made by Evangeline Iglesias, a local Altadena resident, alleges that Edison International and SCE failed to “de-energize all electrical equipment in the area.” He claimed that there was clear evidence from the testimony of ” and failed to ensure that flammable vegetation was trimmed around the infrastructure.

Asked about working with state Democrats, Validares said he was optimistic that lawmakers could change because “we know the voters don’t agree right now.” But when asked if he thought Democrats were responsible for the state’s leadership, Esairi quickly dismissed the idea.

“No, absolutely not. I don’t think they ever admit that their policies are wrong. They double down, they gaslight, they deflect. That’s what they do. It’s about being there,” Esseri said.

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