Gavin Newsom (00:00):
Appreciate it. Thank you. And we'll be counting on you for that workforce that we just highlighted. Look, I want to just thank everybody for taking the time to be out here. And as was shared by the senator and the congressional representatives, I just also want to extend all of our best and our hearts go out to the folks in Texas. And for many folks, it's particularly personal. My wife's closest friend growing up, she just left and reminded me to remind you of the Walker family. There was a vigil last night in Marin County. Mark, his wife and his 14-year-old son who's very close with so many kids, including my own son, in the Marin County area, they're missing. Thankfully their 16-year-old daughter was found. And it's just another reminder of how devastating this tragedy is and obviously continues to unfold in just excruciating ways. And anyone with kids understands that. We quite literally have four kids at camp as I speak. One in Davis, one in New York, two, thank God, day camps, but two with overnight camps. And I think for anyone, again, particularly daughters, but with children, just puts everything in perspective. And it's also just a reminder of the 30 lives lost here, that this devastation continues to persist and it's why we're all in this together. And that's the spirit. I think it's a spirit that defines the presentation and the partnerships that we sought and were advanced. I'm deeply grateful to the baton, as I mentioned, that was passed from the Biden administration to the Trump administration. I'm grateful for the administration's support, for the EPA's support, and Lee Zeldin and the work they did in that first phase. I'm grateful for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. We highlighted the incredible work of FEMA, Bob Fenton in particular, who was lead out here. The federal government that stepped up in extraordinary ways.
(02:08)
To the men and women behind me, these are familiar faces at CAL FIRE that have been here from day one and continue to be here. And just a reminder as well that the work we're doing and continue to do as we, as Senator Padilla said, enter into peak fire season and how sober and serious these disasters are, how sober and serious disaster recovery is, but also preparedness is as well. Just a few points that were not shared in terms of putting this disaster recovery in perspective. It's the equivalent of two times the size of ground zero at 9/11. Close to a quarter of a million, 214,000 truckloads of debris was removed. Which is just an extraordinary logistical triumph just in a very short period of time. As I said, substantially complete, 96% plus. You could argue 99% as it relates to just cleaning up some paperwork with some parcels. But there are a few hundred parcels left.
(03:12)
And so as they begin to demobilize over the course of the next few weeks, none of us are naive that there are parcels remaining that need debris removal. There are close to 2,000 people that have chosen their own path to the debris removal and there are commercial properties that are independent of this process and are working through their insurance issues to address their debris needs as well. The reason the supplemental is so important is to address those gaps on underinsured and uninsured. To address all of those myriads of gaps for small business owners, for renters, not just landlords, for people that simply will not have the cash flow to get back in. Our number one now imperative is to try to restore some hope for those that may have lost it, that may have moved on and may have offered their property up for sale, to hopefully get them to reconsider and to resubmit their application, their permit to rebuild.
(04:21)
There were some that estimated this process would take 18 months. And by some objective assessments, that was not unrealistic. The fact that we were able to achieve this six, seven months, I hope, gives people some confidence that continuing that spirit of intention and partnership, that we can move mountains, the difficult and challenging bottlenecks, those mountains, as it relates to permitting and inspections and dealing with contractors, constructions, logistics, right-of-ways, all of those things that were laid out in the plan that Supervisor Barger put out, the plan that's amplified by the state plan and the partnership we advance with Boston Consulting Group. And so that's the focus now. This new AI tool we think is going to be significant. I want to thank Steadfast LA for their support of that, Department of Angels for their support.
(05:18)
I want to thank the Urban Land Institute. So many others, including LA Rises, that have been part of this effort. A lot of nonprofits have emerged, Habitat for Humanity that's committed to rebuilding homes here in Altadena. The work that has been done by Foothill Foundation, that's The Foothill Catalog Foundation, that is also providing these pre-approved architectural designs and are supporting the community. UCLA has been incredible, the Urban Land Institute, as I noted, all of these partnerships that emerged, the Annenberg Foundation, continue to supplement where we can moving forward. I'll be going tonight, quite literally in the next hour or so, to South Carolina to highlight and reinforce that message that we're all in this together, to work at a state by state level.
(06:11)
We've worked with the National Governors Association, we've worked with the U.S. Conference of Mayors. We're obviously working with Senator Padilla and our congressional delegation to get bipartisan support for disaster supplemental. But we want to highlight that and we'll continue to highlight that in terms of other states that are seeking that support in real time as well. And as I said in the outset, Texas only reminds us this notion that we're many parts and one body.
(06:44)
Final point. What a disgrace what's happening in MacArthur Park. What theater. On the six-month anniversary after all of these fires, that's the message from the polluted heart of the President of the United States, the polluted heart of Stephen Miller. Those National Guard men and women that were out there protecting people are now being used as political pawns. Out there on horsebacks running through soccer fields in the middle of the day, timed around announcements and events like this. It says everything you and I need to know about the state of mind of the President of the United States and this administration.
(07:33)
So to those that feel torn asunder by everything that's happened over the course of the last six months, notably highlighted and reinforced the last six weeks, and over the course of the last 60 minutes and a day like today, I want folks to know we have your back and we'll continue to come back and do what we can to protect our diverse communities, to protect the spirit that defines the best of this city and our state, and to push back against this cruelty, to push back against this cruelty that is being perpetuated by the President of the United States. With that, happy to answer any questions.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Governor, what is the linkage? You didn't mention it in your talk earlier, but the senator did, the House members did, the linkage between the recovery in Pasadena and in the Palisades and the immigration rates? I mean, the mayor was supposed to be here, but ended up in MacArthur Park.
Gavin Newsom (08:35):
Well, look, you've got estimate at 41% of our workforce in the construction side. And that's a unique California stat. Texas and California have the two highest percentage of people without documentation, immigrants working in our constructions unions and trades, people that are also not in the unions and trades. And so it's foundational to our recovery. For him to intentionally
Gavin Newsom (09:01):
… do what he did today. They know what they're doing and then again, they have no idea what they're doing and their ignorance is legendary and the impacts of this will be felt in the recovery, and that's on them. Donald Trump owns that. He owns the cruelty, he owns the arrogance, not just the ignorance. It's by definition, weakness. Only a weak person puts on a show like that with horses and bringing the National Guard that should be out there raking his forests. Ric Grenell, his so-called Czar, had the audacity today to attack this state on this anniversary for not raking its forests when we have a federal forest fire over 80,000 acres on Donald Trump's forests that these folks behind me are managing. California is an instant command leader on that, that has provided 30% of that fire to now be contained.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Governor, the border patrol chief, Gregory Bovino, said to Fox, I don't work for Karen Bass. Better get used to us now because this is going to be normal very soon. We will go anywhere, anytime we want in Los Angeles.
Gavin Newsom (10:23):
Tough guy.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
What's your response?
Gavin Newsom (10:25):
Tough guy. He does work for us. He may want to check his pay stub. He's a public servant. We're taxpayers. He works for the people of the United States of America, and he has a constitutional obligation in that respect. So with all due respect to him, he better do a better job.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Do you think Republicans are going to give you the money that you're asking for if this-
Gavin Newsom (10:53):
We're all in this together, I'm going to South Carolina. I think they should get every penny of what they need. North Carolina should get every penny of what they need. Proud to be there in Louisiana, in Speaker Johnson's old district. He should have gotten every penny that they receive, every penny that they need, every resource that we can provide, including resources from the state that we offered early Friday morning to Greg Abbott, we should provide. That's the spirit that defines the best of this country, our nation that's about to celebrate its 250th anniversary. Absolutely, I expect that we will figure out a path, a bipartisan path to support the people of the United States of America. And those include the 40 million Americans residing in California.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
Government Abbott, on the immigration rates. A lot of people have told me, people who have family members who have been disappeared is the term they're using.
Gavin Newsom (11:45):
That's the right term.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
They say that they feel like the sanctuary state policies and sanctuary city policies failed them. So two questions. Is there anything the state can do to prevent what is happening like today at MacArthur Park or other raids that happened where people are taken. Today, I don't think we have reports that anybody was detained.
Gavin Newsom (12:05):
Yeah, which only reinforces the theater, the spectacle, the cruelty, the weakness expressed by the very statement of the border czar that apparently wasn't able to find a arrest. How weak. How weak, how pathetic. How cruel. As it relates to the sanctuary policies, they're limited in their scope and effectiveness. LA's sanctuary policy' different than San Diego's, different than San Francisco's, different than Fresno's. The state all together different. As you know, the state of California is cooperated as it relates to the transfer of criminals, people that are lifers coming out of the state system. Over 11,000 people, just since I've been governor, I've coordinated with ICE. This is not about going after dangerous criminals. This is about going after members of our community that have been here 10, 20, 30 years.
(13:05)
It's about the destroying the fabric of this state. It's about taking this state down. That's what this is about. It's intentional and it is cruel. It's increasingly inhumane and it's increasingly become a spectacle and it's become theater, but real people's lives are being impacted. And so we'll continue to do what we can through our network, our response, rapid response network, to your question. We'll continue to do what we can to support people's legal rights, their due process under the Constitution of the United States. We continue to file lawsuits and continue to win those lawsuits.
(13:53)
There is at least one other branch of government operating that is certainly not the legislature, it's not Congress. They have given up that role and responsibility. Speaker Johnson has abdicated that, but the courts still remain and that will be a pathway for us to do more. But the rapid response networks, community, nonprofits, leaders, well established in the state, become foundational in terms of protecting our communities and supporting people at a time where they're feeling terrorized by these cruel antics and theatrics in the middle of a soccer field with horses.
Speaker 4 (14:39):
Governor-
Gavin Newsom (14:39):
How pathetic.
Speaker 4 (14:41):
… has there been any improvement with the dialogue with the federal government? You look at what happened in Texas. Talk about the National Guard. I know you're getting 150 of them back, but if there were to be another fire here, which can happen at any time, how Texas shows that we really do need those Guard-
Gavin Newsom (14:56):
Well, you've got 5,000 people between those that have been federalized, the National Guard, men and women and the U.S. Marines in LA, well, or in armories waiting around for assignments. They've been taken off. The crews that are doing vegetation of forest management, those are our Rattlesnake teams. They've been taking off our counter-narcotics task forces addressing the issues of fentanyl and dealing with border-related issues. These are teachers, these are firefighters. I'll repeat that. The National Guard that have been federalized are teachers, firefighters, paramedics. These are folks that are not on the job to protect you purely for theater and antics. Less than 20% have been directed for any formal role. The rest are sitting around doing nothing except feeding the ego of the president who United States, who is shrinking every single day in the eyes of the American people. Let them get back home, let them get back to work.
Speaker 5 (16:23):
Governor-
Speaker 6 (16:23):
If Trump makes good on his promise to scale back FEMA, what is California preparing to do to backfill that shortfall? And do you have any concerns that your relationship with the president may impact the future of federal assistance for California?
Gavin Newsom (16:37):
Well, you can't backfill the elimination of FEMA. There's no state in America. Even the most endowed state, $4.1 trillion a year economy, largest in this nation, fourth largest in the world. We don't have the resources to ultimately do that, but we have increased our discretionary reserves as a consequence of those concerns. So we can frontload some of that. And we were very mindful on the four and a half billion dollars, what we refer to as an SFEU in our budget of that concern and that question.
(17:15)
And as it relates to working with the president, I maintained this posture through other difficult and challenging times, including in COVID, open hand, not a closed fist when it comes to emergency preparedness and emergency planning, recovery, and renewal, period fullstop. That should be non-political. I maintain that posture in strong support of Governor Abbott and the people of Texas. I'll reinforce that in a red state where I'll land this evening and tomorrow in strong support of their requests in the South. And I will be there. We will be there on behalf of the American people, on behalf of the state of California and the 40 million Americans that are here. I believe they enthusiastically want us to
Gavin Newsom (18:00):
… be there when the next hurricane hits in Florida or Georgia. We'll be there. The swift water teams will be there, Cal Fire will be there, the investigators will be there. Across the spectrum, we've sent teams. The C130s, if they need them, they'll be there. That's the spirit defines the best of this country, so I expect and hope that despite, as Brad Sherman said, are interesting differences, that we can unite around the things that bind us together.
Speaker 7 (18:31):
Governor Newsom, on the insurance question, you mentioned it very briefly during your talk. There are a lot of people who are saying that they are not getting the payout that they believe they've earned paying insurance over the years. This is a letter that a lot of people are sending to you from [inaudible 00:18:49]. They are asking, what can you do to help them get insurance payouts that they have not received yet?
Gavin Newsom (18:56):
Yeah, so the insurance commissioner is tasked to focus and investigate some of the delays in claims and these concerns, and the insurance commissioner is doing precisely that and he's got all the support from our administration and the legislature to advance that. That's the job of the insurance commissioner. Our job as well is to work together, the legislature, insurance commissioner, and this administration, to advance the principles that we laid out with our sustainable insurance strategy. We put out that plan through an executive order over a year and a half ago. We began the process of implementing that plan last year. In many ways, the stabilization, as unstable as it is of the fair plan, came out of the execution of the first phase of the implementation of the sustainable plan. As it relates to specifically the claims and how quickly they're being distributed, and as it relates to the type of concerns as it relates to each policyholder, your insurance commissioner has our support as he investigates that.
Speaker 7 (20:09):
Is that not passing the buck, Governor?
Gavin Newsom (20:11):
It's the insurance commissioner's job. That's the agency's job. He has the support, that's not passing the buck. That's reinforcing a commitment, the executive order, the sustainable insurance plan, the work of the legislature, all of us supporting those efforts. Quite the contrary.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
If I may piggyback off of that. I mean, when you walked in today, there was a group of homeowners who are unhappy with the response from their insurance carrier.
Gavin Newsom (20:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
In addition to that, recently, a court ruled in regards to smoke-damaged planes. When it comes to the fair plan, what's the likelihood that that ruling may expand to carriers like, say, Allstate? What can you do about that?
Gavin Newsom (20:53):
Yeah, I can't specifically relate to the details of the litigation and however that was adjudicated as it relates to the fair plan, but as it relates to that process and as it relates to that investigation, that work needs to be done, it needs to be aggressively advanced, and the process is unfolding in real time with the insurance commissioner. I wish the commissioner was here. He could talk about the status, and I would encourage you to inquire with the insurance commissioner the status of those investigations. The State's oversight is limited even on the fair plan. Remember, it's not a State plan. It's not passing the buck. These are just facts. The fair plan is a syndicate pool, was established in 1967, and it's component parts include the admitted markets and contributions that are made. There is a board. We have a number of people we appoint that don't even have a vote on that board, and we obviously are monitoring part of the larger insurance reforms that we're advancing the claims process with the fair plan, not just the admitted market.
(21:58)
But as it relates to State Farm and others, well-known, well-established investigations are ongoing by the insurance commissioner who announced that. You can talk to him about the details of it. Final point, for those… And this is a critical point, for those that are underinsured, for those without insurance, that's why we're asking for the supplemental from the federal government. That's why we need more support from the feds to provide additional resources to address those gaps. It's why we've gone out and raised tens of millions of dollars by local nonprofits to support their efforts, to support recovery across the spectrum. Those organizations I referenced, many, many others that are doing just that. It's exactly why I'm going to South Carolina, to subsequently address those issues. Some people simply didn't have insurance for some of these claims, but they need the support and the State is doing what it can to get support from the federal government beyond the two and a half billion that I put up with the legislature's support so we can address the lack of access to need. And so, that's all part and parts of this broader effort.
Speaker 8 (23:15):
We spoke in January. You talked about that you wanted to have an investigation into the water issues, water pressure issues, why the reservoir was empty.
Gavin Newsom (23:23):
August.
Speaker 8 (23:24):
What have you seen in terms of-
Gavin Newsom (23:24):
August.
Speaker 8 (23:26):
… the investigation? Are there any changes?
Gavin Newsom (23:26):
We have the large investigation, the broader issue after action report comes out next month. I don't know the exact date next month, but we anticipate. There's the face of the investigation there. Well, at least the launch of the investigation's independent review and we'll have that information for you in August.
Speaker 8 (23:49):
If I may, sir, there's a British philosopher, Samuel Johnson once said, "There are two reasons for every action, a good reason and the real reason." The good reason for South Carolina is to talk about a commonality of interest when it comes to natural disasters. Some would say, is it a coincidence that is the first state in the 2028 primary election?
Gavin Newsom (24:09):
Well, you don't know that. I don't know that, and so that's why I would suggest it's what it is. It's been an ongoing issue for me to work with governors, not just Democratic governors, but Republican governors, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and others that have been impacted, and get the support at the sub-national level, meaning at the gubernatorial level. We've been doing it through the DGA with Democrats, working now with the NGA. We've been up on the Hill, the Capitol, and now we're starting to reach out directly to governors. It won't be the last state, and there'll be other states that are off the map, so the cynics out there can sort of, I think, resolve any of their anxiety or growing cynicism.
Speaker 8 (24:53):
Are we still at sub-zero interest in running for president?
Gavin Newsom (24:55):
Oh, God. I mean, Jesus, that's just… As he smiles for the record for all of you who couldn't see his face.
Speaker 8 (25:02):
What can you tell us about permits going forward? That's a huge issue that people are concerned.
Gavin Newsom (25:06):
Well, that's exactly what we talked about today and I hope you'll pay particular attention to what Supervisor Barger had in her hands.
Speaker 8 (25:14):
[inaudible 00:25:14] reform as well?
Gavin Newsom (25:16):
Let me get to that. And what I presented in my slides, which laid out the areas, the pillars as we referred to them, of the 120-day next phase, moving from debris removal to recovery. That was aided and supported by independent consultants looking at best practices and recovery across the globe, and was done in partnership with the State to link arms with the County. That plan in detail will be out in just a week or so, and that is the plan to which we look to advance. Part of that plan, and within a matter of days, will be the first phase pilot of this new AI technology that we've procured in partnership with philanthropy.
(26:12)
A number of those groups I just mentioned, LA Rises as it relates to steadfast and others, we pulled together resources to procure an AI for plan checking, pre-approvals, and the first phase of that will be initiated within a week or so, and then be scaled to address some of those direct issues. The State's vision is realized at the local level. The localism is determinative as it relates. It's not passing the buck. Governor of California, not Mayor of California, City, County, planning review inspections, State resourcing that and clearing any thickets including CEQA. The EO that I referenced
Gavin Newsom (27:00):
… at the end of my presentation includes additional CEQA reform and Coastal Act reform beyond the 22 prior executive orders that I advanced, specifically addressing requests that came from the city and county on a number of issues, including updated building codes that go into effect prospectively in January of next year, and how that could actually create some difficulty with existing permit requests. So we're waiving some of those requirements for non-life safety codes.
(27:41)
We're also addressing the anxiety that has been expressed about the like-for-like permits that people can get in a more expedited way that have some constraints related to CEQA and the Coastal Act to give them more flexibility. Both requests that came from the city and county, and requests that are being fulfilled in the executive order that quite literally, no exaggeration, I will be signing the second that we end this press conference and will officially go into effect.
Speaker 9 (28:13):
And governor, if I may [inaudible 00:28:15]
Gavin Newsom (28:16):
I have SB one to 2000. There are 2000 bills that I'm tracking, so 79 is-
Speaker 9 (28:25):
[inaudible 00:28:25] high density along transit lines-
Gavin Newsom (28:27):
Oh gosh. I just did two of the most significant historic housing bills ever passed in California history, and I'm particularly proud of that and proud of the legislature. We were able to stipulate that there's a budget and housing reform, but you couldn't have one without the other. And so those were significant as it relates to other housing initiatives and efforts. We'll be taking a look at that on the merits, and be reviewing them along the lines of the other 2000 bills that are still being dealt with. [inaudible 00:28:58]
Speaker 10 (28:58):
[inaudible 00:28:57] there's lawsuits against them regarding the [inaudible 00:29:01]
Gavin Newsom (29:01):
Yes, there are.
Speaker 10 (29:02):
What can the state do to hold that power company accountable?
Gavin Newsom (29:07):
It can independently adjudicate the facts of what may or may not have occurred, and not politicize that process and that investigation. That's how we hold whoever is accountable accountable. The independent review is independent of the specific investigation as it relates to the origin story of the Eaton Fire. You've got investigations reviewing the origin story as it relates to the Palisades Fire as well. The impact of both investigations will be outsized, and if the utility is liable, they ultimately will be held to account.
(29:47)
That said, you should be mindful of this. They will also likely, if that's the case… And I do not know, nor do you, nor does anyone. That is being independently reviewed. But the impact of that could be felt not just to one utility, it could impact utilities statewide. Because the consequence and the liability exposure may be so large that it can impact the wildfire fund that we established after the bankruptcy of PG&E under SB1057.
(30:26)
We created a wildfire fund with the capacity to pay up to about 21 billion in claims. That wildfire fund would be stressed by that ultimate determination, and that's another reason that we have spent a great deal of time with our consultants and with legislative leaders to stress test that, and the impact that would have on the entire independently owned utility market, and access to capital and rates for all utility users in the state.
(31:00)
So these are big, big questions, big burdens potentially, also opportunities for reform along the lines of insurance, and certainly things that we're monitoring in real time. But that, again, is a separate investigation from the larger review that will conclude in August. Just want to make that clear so no one conflates the two that we'll know in August about that. This is about the entire emergency response, city, state, federal, and local. What we could have done, should have done, will do, how to deal with resilience moving forward, redundancy, suppressions technology, strategies, and the timeliness of that could not be more opportune, because it will happen as we move into the second phase, and we'll be informed by that report in terms of how we, I'll say it, Brad said it, don't want to get any PTS, build back better.
(32:01)
Thank you guys very, very much.