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SB-429 • 2026

Wildfire Safety and Risk Mitigation Program.

Wildfire Safety and Risk Mitigation Program.

Budget
Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
Cortese
Last action
2025-10-10
Official status
Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 541, Statutes of 2025.
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source does not specify when the program will start after funding is appropriated.

Wildfire Safety Program

This law establishes a program that funds the development and deployment of tools to predict and reduce wildfire risks in California.

What This Bill Does

  • Establishes the Wildfire Safety and Risk Mitigation Program upon appropriation for these purposes.
  • Creates an account within the Insurance Fund for this program's funding.
  • Provides grant funding to universities for projects that develop a public wildfire catastrophe model.
  • Requires the Department of Insurance to create a framework and multiyear plan for developing, demonstrating, and deploying the public wildfire catastrophe model.

Who It Names or Affects

  • The Department of Insurance
  • California universities involved in research projects

Terms To Know

Wildfire catastrophe model
A tool used to predict and manage the risks from large wildfires.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The program will only start if funding is appropriated.
  • It does not specify when the program starts after getting funding.
  • Details about future budget needs are based on recommendations from the Department of Insurance.

Bill History

  1. 2025-10-10 California Legislative Information

    Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 541, Statutes of 2025.

  2. 2025-10-10 California Legislative Information

    Approved by the Governor.

  3. 2025-09-23 California Legislative Information

    Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 2 p.m.

  4. 2025-09-13 California Legislative Information

    Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 34. Noes 0. Page 3061.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling.

  5. 2025-09-13 California Legislative Information

    In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.

  6. 2025-09-13 California Legislative Information

    Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 79. Noes 0. Page 3462.) Ordered to the Senate.

  7. 2025-09-13 California Legislative Information

    Joint Rule 61(a)(14) and 51(a)(4) suspended. (Ayes 59. Noes 20. Page 3413.)

  8. 2025-09-03 California Legislative Information

    Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

  9. 2025-09-02 California Legislative Information

    Read second time and amended. Ordered to second reading.

  10. 2025-08-29 California Legislative Information

    From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 11. Noes 0.) (August 29).

  11. 2025-08-20 California Legislative Information

    August 20 set for first hearing. Placed on APPR. suspense file.

  12. 2025-07-17 California Legislative Information

    Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

  13. 2025-07-16 California Legislative Information

    From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (July 14).

  14. 2025-07-09 California Legislative Information

    From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on E.M. (Ayes 15. Noes 0.) (July 9). Re-referred to Com. on E.M.

  15. 2025-07-02 California Legislative Information

    From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on INS.

  16. 2025-06-09 California Legislative Information

    Referred to Coms. on INS. and E.M.

  17. 2025-06-04 California Legislative Information

    In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk.

  18. 2025-06-03 California Legislative Information

    Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 39. Noes 0. Page 1456.) Ordered to the Assembly.

  19. 2025-05-29 California Legislative Information

    Ordered to third reading.

  20. 2025-05-29 California Legislative Information

    From special consent calendar on motion of Senator Cortese.

  21. 2025-05-27 California Legislative Information

    Ordered to special consent calendar.

  22. 2025-05-23 California Legislative Information

    Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

  23. 2025-05-23 California Legislative Information

    From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 6. Noes 0. Page 1200.) (May 23).

  24. 2025-05-16 California Legislative Information

    Set for hearing May 23.

  25. 2025-05-05 California Legislative Information

    May 5 hearing: Placed on APPR. suspense file.

  26. 2025-04-25 California Legislative Information

    Set for hearing May 5.

  27. 2025-04-24 California Legislative Information

    From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To consent calendar. (Ayes 7. Noes 0. Page 869.) (April 23). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

  28. 2025-04-04 California Legislative Information

    Set for hearing April 23.

  29. 2025-04-02 California Legislative Information

    Re-referred to Com. on INS.

  30. 2025-03-26 California Legislative Information

    From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on RLS.

  31. 2025-02-26 California Legislative Information

    Referred to Com. on RLS.

  32. 2025-02-19 California Legislative Information

    From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 21.

  33. 2025-02-18 California Legislative Information

    Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print.

Official Summary Text

SB 429, Cortese.
Wildfire Safety and Risk Mitigation Program.
Existing law creates the Department of Insurance and prescribes the department’s powers and duties. Existing law generally regulates the business of insurance in the state, including the underwriting and ongoing monitoring of insured risks. Existing law generally requires an insurer or insurance producer to have underwriting guidelines that establish the criteria and process under which an insurer makes its decision to provide or to deny coverage.
Existing law requires an admitted insurer with written California premiums totaling $10,000,000 or more, to submit a report, as specified, to the commissioner with specified fire risk information on its residential property policies. Existing law requires the commissioner to post on the department’s internet website a report on wildfire risk compiled from data collected from specified insurers.
This bill, upon appropriation for these purposes, would establish the Wildfire Safety and Risk Mitigation Program to fund the development, demonstration, and deployment of a public wildfire catastrophe model, as defined, and to provide grant funding to one or more universities for eligible projects with specified criteria for the purpose of creating a research and educational center responsible for developing, demonstrating, and deploying a public wildfire catastrophe model that provides significant wildfire safety benefits to California communities and assists alignment of federal, state, and local wildfire risk reduction efforts. The bill would create the Wildfire Safety and Risk Mitigation Account within the Insurance Fund for these purposes.
The bill, also upon appropriation for these purposes, would require the department to create a framework and multiyear plan with available data for the development, demonstration, and
deployment of a public wildfire catastrophe model that includes specified information and to publish the plan on the department’s internet website. The bill would require the department to provide recommendations to the Senate Committee on Insurance, Assembly Committee on Insurance, Assembly Committee on Emergency Management, Budget Committees, and the Governor for future budget allocations related to these provisions before September 1, 2026.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
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