Newsom Expands Special Session to Speed Up Los Angeles Wildfire Relief Funds

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday asked the state Legislature to approve a $2.5 billion aid package in response to the Southern California wildfires, folding the request into a special session that the governor initially called to fund legal battles against the incoming Trump administration.

The move came as Democrats in the Legislature appeared to reach an agreement on bills that will allow the governor to sign off on new funding for lawyers at the California Department of Justice and in legal aid centers across the state before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Monday. Republicans largely criticized those investments as they called on Newsom to put wildfire-related spending through the same fast-tracked process allowed in a special session.

That process allows bills passed by the Senate and Assembly to take effect more quickly than under the Legislature’s normal rules, which require a supermajority vote to speed up the enactment of a law.

“California is organizing a Marshall Plan to help Los Angeles rebuild faster and stronger — including billions in new and accelerated state funding so we can move faster to deliver for the thousands who’ve lost their homes and livelihoods in these firestorms,” Newsom said in a statement. “To the people of Los Angeles: We have your back.”

Newsom’s proposal includes $1 billion for emergency response and cleanup, for which the administration anticipates reimbursement from the federal government. The governor is also asking the Legislature to sign off on $1.5 billion to prepare for future natural disasters and an unspecified amount to provide technical assistance for school districts attempting to rebuild campuses that were burned down or damaged in the fires.

“California is moving heaven and earth to ensure an expedited and successful recovery and rebuild for all Angelenos,” said Senate President pro tempore Mike McGuire (D–North Coast) in a statement. “This early funding is a down payment that will kickstart the cleanup of neighborhoods and start the process of rebuilding lives. And we’ll do all of this while investing in legal protections for some of our most vulnerable Californians.”

Newsom initially called the special session in the wake of Trump’s November election victory.

Under an agreement on legal funding announced by Sen. Scott Wiener (D–San Francisco), the chair of the Senate Budget Committee, $25 million will be set aside for potential lawsuits to contest actions taken by the federal government or to defend the state in court against legal actions taken by Trump’s Department of Justice.

Another $25 million will be used to fund legal nonprofits that are defending Californians “at risk of detention, deportation, eviction, wage theft, intimate partner violence, and other actions that put their safety at risk, as a result of potential or actual federal actions,” according to the language of Senate Bill 1X-2.

During Trump’s first term, California filed more than 100 lawsuits against the federal government, challenging Trump’s changes to climate rules, immigration enforcement and health care access.

Republicans in the state Legislature had spent days arguing that Newsom should abandon his initial special session declaration given the crisis in Los Angeles County. Hours before Newsom’s announcement on Monday, Republican lawmakers gathered outside the Capitol for a press conference, where they called for a new special session on wildfire response and the related instability in the state’s home insurance market.

“I’m glad to see Governor Newsom agreeing that the state needs to prioritize relief for Californians impacted by these fires,” Republican Assembly Leader James Gallagher (R–Yuba City) said in a post on social media platform X. “I certainly hope he doesn’t play politics with this money by tying it to his slush fund for government lawyers and left-wing groups to fight President Trump. This is a time for all of us to come together and take care of our fellow Californians who have lost everything.”

The governor’s office did not immediately respond to questions about whether Newsom’s proposals will be included in the existing Trump-related legislation or if he fully agrees with legislative leaders on the Trump-related legal funding.