RCRC supports Assembly Bill 1, authored by Assembly Member Damon Connolly (D-San Rafael). The measure would require the California Department of Insurance (CDI) to identify and consider additional property-level and community-wide wildfire mitigation measures to be included in its Safer from Wildfire regulations.
To save lives, protect property, and address the insurance crisis, California has prioritized efforts to prevent wildfires and reduce their severity. Additionally, home and property owners are investing in home hardening and defensible space to reduce the risk of loss due to wildfires and, thereby, lower the cost of wildfire disasters for communities, governments, and insurers. To support these activities, California has made significant investments in recent years through the State Budget. Since 2017, the State has committed more than $3.6 billion in investments in forest treatment alone
Even as California is making unprecedented investments in wildfire resilience, complimented by investments made by local governments and homeowners in home hardening and maintaining defensible space, the current proposed regulations by CDI only briefly mention home hardening and do not incorporate the wildfire risk reduction benefits of these activities in relation to rates. The failure to account for the risk reduction benefits of these activities contributes to non-renewals of insurance and insurers’ decisions not to write new insurance for homes facing wildfire risk. At the same time, homeowners are denied the benefits associated with the investments that have been made in hazardous fuel reduction, home hardening, and defensible space. AB 1 would help to address the insurance crisis by requiring CDI to consider new home hardening and community wildfire mitigation requirements and programs in updates to the Safer from Wildfire regulations.
AB 1 was introduced in December 2024 and awaits referral in the California State Assembly. RCRC’s joint letter of support, along with the California League of Cities and the California State Association of Counties, is available here.
For more information, please contact RCRC Senior Policy Advocate Staci Heaton.