MY THOUGHTS – Gavin Newsom came to the final days of his final regular legislative session with one more major problem he wanted California lawmakers to solve. They didn’t.
The collapse of Senate Bill 492, the wildfire-liability package that never received a final Assembly vote, was about more than one governor losing one legislative battle. It exposed a recurring weakness in Sacramento: complicated problems can remain unresolved for years, only to become emergencies when the legislative clock is about to expire.
Wildfire liability is too consequential for that kind of governing. California must compensate communities devastated by fires, keep utilities financially capable of hardening the electrical grid, protect ratepayers from escalating costs, and maintain a functioning insurance market…