The California Assembly killed a proposal on wildfire liability during their final day of session just days after the deal between lawmakers and Governor Gavin Newsom was announced.
The bill would’ve created a fast-pay program for fire survivors and prevented private equity groups from profiting off wildfire claims.
But many Assemblymembers expressed concerns it didn’t do anything to structurally reform utilities’ liability for fires they cause, which is what Newsom initially pushed for.
Democratic Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas put it this way: "All of these bills whether they’re performative or not more often than not we’re passing bills that are performative, we want to do better, we want to get this right."
Assembly leaders made it clear they’d rather go back to the drawing board than pass a bill sending a signal they’d handled the issue for the year.
"You know if the Governor chooses to call a special session," added Rivas, "you know we’re ready to stand up and serve."
The move came as a surprise to Senators who’d also agreed to the proposal. Democratic Senator Sasha Renee Perez of Altadena noted the proposal was killed as utility stocks dropped this week.
"We as a legislature do not write legislation in response to how the stock market is performing," Perez said.
Perez added she wants to see a proposal to increase accountability for utilities and prioritize the fire survivors she represents.