California Gov. Gavin Newsom criticized over Los Angeles wildfire response

A California lawmaker is calling for serious changes to happen in wildfire combat and prevention. 

“There’s a lot of similarities. And that’s kind of part of the issue here, that I don’t know that we really learn the lessons of the past,” Assembly Minority Leader James Gallagher told Fox News Digital.

Gallagher was describing the 2019 Paradise fire that struck his district and said a lot more needs to be done to combat and prevent catastrophic wildfires across the Golden State.

“It’s the same type of catastrophic wind-driven fire. We still see movement of dead and dying timber and underbrush on federal land, in that case, decimated a whole community,” Gallagher said.

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom is defending the criticism of his response to the Los Angeles wildfires as mounting backlash continues.   (Newsom: Photo by Jeff Gritchen/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images Fire: Jae C. Hong/AP)

“So from Paradise to the Palisades, over the last seven years, we’ve seen catastrophic fire after catastrophic fire and our leadership in California, really has done a pretty bad job of addressing the fundamental issue.”

Gallagher said he feels that state and local leadership have been “very deficient” in how they responded to the wildfires.

“When you just look at water not coming out of fire hydrants and then nobody seems to know why. And then the governor says, ‘Well, I’m going to investigate it’, it’s just kind of a sideshow in a time when we need real definitive, strong leadership,” Gallagher continued. 

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“it’s just kind of a sideshow in a time when we need real definitive…” 

“Probably the best contrast to draw is how DeSantis handled hurricanes in Florida versus how Gavin has handled this disaster. You can definitely see the differences in leadership.”

Izzy Gardon, director of communications for Newsom’s office, combated criticism of the governor’s wildfire handling. 

“The Governor is focused on protecting people, not playing politics, and making sure firefighters have all the resources they need,” Gardon told Fox News Digital. 

“The Governor is focused on protecting people, not playing politics, and making sure firefighters have all the resources they need.”

The governor’s office shared a letter addressing water hydrants running out of water, stating that “while overall water supply in Southern California is not an issue, water mobility in the initial response was an issue.”

“That is why @CAGovernor Newsom has ordered a full, independent review of LADWP. This cannot happen again,” the post on X read. 

Gallagher said that while what we are seeing in California right now is heartbreaking, it’s time for everyone to come together and unite to help people recover, but then to “finally fundamentally address the problems in California.” 

“It’s a lack of infrastructure. It’s a lack of proper management of our lands to ensure that communities are safe,” Gallagher said.

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The Palisades Fire ravages a neighborhood amid high winds in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025.  (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Gallagher said that in 2021, he and other lawmakers fought for $1 billion in funding to combat and prevent catastrophic wildfires adding that both wildfire prevention and issues with the state insurance market must be addressed and that there has been a major reduction in appropriations since then.

“It really is about getting back to the fundamentals of government, public safety, public goods and infrastructure that Gavin Newsom and the Democrats have just been doing a terrible job of. They haven’t been taking care of that basic fundamental duty of government, and they’ve been going after all kinds of other liberal pipe dreams essentially, and not taking care of basics.”

An aerial view shows debris from burned properties, following the Palisades Fire at the Pacific Palisades neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, U.S. January 10, 2025.  (REUTERS/Daniel Cole )

Governor Newsom’s Office has disputed these claims and said that under the governor’s leadership, CalFIRE’s budget has nearly doubled since 2019, going from $2 billion to $3.8 billion. 

His office added that water reservoirs in Southern California are at record levels and that there is no shortage of water in Southern California. 

“A lot of misinformation out there. The TRUTH: CA did NOT cut our firefighting budget. We have nearly doubled the size of our firefighting army and built the world’s largest aerial firefighting fleet. CA has INCREASED forest management ten-fold since we took office,” Newsom wrote in a post on X. 

Republican Senator Brian Dahle claimed that Newsom had turned his back on the residents of California when he vetoed a bill aimed at protecting fire victims, which Newsom disputes. 

“Friendly reminder: Newsom turned his back on wildfire victims by vetoing my bill, SB 542 — the measure would’ve excluded settlement payments awarded to victims of the 2022 Mill Fire & 2021 Dixie Fire from being subject to income taxes. I bet he plans on TAXING SoCal residents on their settlement payments too!” 

Newsom’s office argued that he “wholeheartedly supports the intent of these bills.” 

“In 2022, I signed legislation that provided similar tax exclusions for settlement claims resulting from catastrophic wildfires that occurred in the preceding five years. In signing those bills, I stated future measures, like these bills, should be included as part of the annual budget process given the General Fund implications. The following year, the Legislature enacted an income tax exclusion for an additional wildfire in the 2023-24 Budget Act. As such, I strongly encourage the Legislature to include these proposals in next year’s budget framework,” Newsom wrote in a previous letter sent to the California State Senate.

Newsom also received backlash from several lawmakers after he called a “special session” to “Trump-proof” the state for when President-elect Trump is inaugurated and then added wildfire relief to the agenda.  

“Officially done with the political games on the fires. It is wrong to suggest putting strings on federal disaster relief,” Assemblymember Greg Wallis, a Republican, wrote in a post on X.

“It is wrong to tie fire relief funds to the partisan ‘Trump-proofing’ California special session funding bill. No strings. Let’s focus on helping the victims and getting desperately-needed relief funds to victims.” 

Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones, also a Republican, echoed Wallis calling Newsom’s special session “insulting.”

“Democrat lawmakers appear to be at odds with each other over Newsom’s insulting special session, which lumps together critical emergency funding for the LA fires with $50 million in politically motivated funding to sue Trump,” Jones wrote in a post on X.

“I strongly urge my Democrat colleagues to rise above Newsom’s divisive political agenda and focus solely on disaster relief. That $50 million would be far better spent helping fire victims recover and rebuild. Drop the political angles and conditions on aid—fire victims deserve a response that is respectful and non-partisan,” Jones continued. 

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The special session was initially scheduled to take place on Tuesday, but it was canceled due to the ongoing threat of wildfires.

Fox News Digital’s Charles Creitz contributed to this report.