Important Takeaways:

• California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) cut $100 million from the state’s fire prevention budget in 2024 before residents in the Los Angeles area were hit by wildfires, Newsweek reported.
• Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) slashed almost $20 million from her city’s budget for fire services for the current fiscal year, Breitbart News reported on Wednesday.
• Newsweek’s article, published on Friday, continued:
  • The 2024-25 California state budget, which Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law in June 2024, slashed funding for wildfire and forest resilience by $101 million as part of a series of cutbacks according to an analysis by the state’s Legislative Analyst’s Office.
  • However overall, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE)’s wildfire protection budget has increased sharply from $1.1 billion in 2014 to $3 billion in 2023, much of which took place after Newsom became governor in 2019.
  • Speaking to Newsweek, a spokesperson for Newsom said that under the governor’s “leadership” the CAL FIRE budget had doubled from $2 billion in 2018-19 to $3.8 billion in 2024-25, whilst the department’s personnel went from 5,829 to 10,741 over the same period.

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