Assemblymembers Rodriguez and Calderon Introduce Legislation to Address Wildfire Insurance Availability

(SACRAMENTO, CA) — Assemblymembers Freddie Rodriguez (D-Pomona) and Lisa Calderon (D-Whittier) introduced Assembly Bill 2983 to address the availability of wildfire insurance across California, amid a growing crisis.

This bill will direct the California Wildfire Mitigation Program (CWMP) to work with the Department of Insurance to determine the impact hazard mitigation projects would have on wildfire insurance policies. The CWMP is a state initiative between the California Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal FIRE) to create fire-resistant homes,
businesses, public buildings, and public spaces.

"California is a wildfire-prone state and natural disasters like wildfires are a rapidly growing threat to the safety of our communities," said Assemblymember Freddie Rodriguez, Chair of the Assembly Emergency Management Committee. "If we want safe communities, we need to leverage existing resources to make insurance available and affordable, and that’s what AB 2983 does.”

Responsible for administering the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMPG), Cal OES also supports the development and state approval of Local Hazard Mitigation Plans (LHMP), which identify state and local risks to fire hazards, mitigation capabilities, and mitigation strategies. FEMA’s HMPG provides funding to state, local, tribal, and territorial governments so they may develop hazard mitigation plans and rebuild in a way that reduces future disaster losses in their communities. Under this program, a local community may apply for funding on behalf of homeowners and businesses, and all state, local, tribal, and territorial governments must develop and adopt hazard mitigation plans to receive funding for hazard mitigation projects. Eligible risk reduction projects under the HMPG include structural retrofits to make a building more resistant to wildfires and other natural hazards.

“A competitive insurance market is a healthy insurance market,” said Assemblymember Lisa Calderon, joint author and Chair of the Assembly Insurance Committee. "To help stabilize California’s insurance market, AB 2983 expands on existing partnerships with the focus on improving insurance availability." Assembly Bill 2983 promotes collaboration between specified departments with a focus on solutions to stabilize California’s insurance market. Investing in hazard mitigation projects reduces the risk of wildfires and provides greater availability of wildfire insurance, but also leads to the long-term economic and environmental self-sufficiency of local communities across the state.

###