(The Center Square) – At the last minute on Tuesday, the California Assembly did not take up a wildfire bill that aimed to help victims who lost their homes.
Senate Bill 492, authored by Sen. Josh Becker, D-Menlo Park, and Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris, D-Irvine, was intended to improve wildfire mitigation efforts. According to the bill analysis, victims of wildfires likely caused by utility equipment would be able to submit claims to the state, and would have allowed them to reject or accept a settlement offer.
SB 492 would also have put a stay on any litigation for a period so wildfire victims could have the chance to decide whether to accept a settlement.
According to the state’s bill tracker, SB 492 was ordered to a third reading as of Sunday. The last day to take up the bill was Tuesday, before either chamber of the Legislature adjourned.
“SB 492 will not advance today,” Becker said on the Senate floor early Tuesday afternoon, just after the Assembly adjourned for the year. “We’ve spent months, and I want to thank the whole group, particularly the whole caucus, who spent months listening to the wildfire victims, working through difficult issues and bringing together stakeholders, legislators and the governor in an effort to make a meaningful difference now.”
The three-party agreement, Becker said, was a direct result of talking to wildfire survivors who lost homes and loved ones in wildfires.
“Many are still struggling to rebuild, and waiting for the compensation they need to move their lives forward,” Becker said. “They need relief and delay only prolongs suffering. SB 492 would help victims receive compensation faster, strengthen wildfire prevention and preparedness, protect survivors from profiteering, and hold utility executives personally accountable when their utility equipment causes catastrophic wildfires.”
The failure of the measure to pass at this late stage means it is dead for the year, as the Legislature adjourned its 2025-26 session early Tuesday afternoon.
Senate leadership said on Tuesday that the lack of a final vote on the bill on the last day of the session was unfortunate.
“Thousands of survivors made their voices clear,” Senate President Pro Tempore Monique Limón, D-Santa Barbara, said on Tuesday. “They needed reform to ensure the next wildfire does not continue to cause the mental and financial stress that recent disasters have placed on Californians. We stand ready to take this on in 2027 to ensure wildfire survivors are protected, that our state has the tools it needs to tackle mitigation, and that the voices of everyday Californians are heard.”
The Center Square on Tuesday was not able to reach Assembly Majority Leader Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, D-Davis, and Assembly Minority Leader Alexandra Macedo, R-Tulare, to ask questions about the lack of a vote.
The Assembly’s failure to vote on the bill follows an Aug. 19 protest in Sacramento, held by Eaton Fire survivors. The Center Square previously reported that the group hoped to draw attention to the need for lawmakers to follow through on their promise to allocate $25 million from the state’s Community Aid for Rebuilding Equity Fund to help them rebuild destroyed and damaged homes in the Pasadena-Altadena area.
The Eaton Fire, according to a report from the Los Angeles County Fire Department, was started in January 2025 by an electrical event caused by transmission towers owned by Southern California Edison.
