‘The cavalry is here’: L.A.-area lawmakers pledge to fast-track fire recovery and aid

More than 20 state lawmakers gathered with Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister) on Thursday to telegraph their commitment to the fire-ravaged Los Angeles region and announce a sweeping legislation package to aid recovery efforts.

The Palisades and Eaton fires are “a catastrophe at an unprecedented scale in California’s history: thousands of homes and businesses gone, more than 100,000 people displaced, too many precious lives lost,” Rivas said.

Rivas stood just outside the Rose Bowl — a canonical local landmark turned bustling fire incident command post — as he spoke, with dozens of fire trucks from across the state visible in the parking lot behind him.

The legislative leader promised that he and other lawmakers would move quickly to approve billions of dollars in funding to kick start toxic debris removal and repair and rebuild schools. Lawmakers also touched on a wide breadth of legislative efforts, some of which have already been introduced in the statehouse and others that will be formally put forth in the days to come.

Legislative efforts “will focus on housing,” Rivas said, because housing “is the No. 1 issue we are hearing from Angelenos right now: how to find housing, how to stay in housing, how to rebuild housing.”

Rivas announced six housing focused bills he is co-authoring with L.A.-area lawmakers that will be officially introduced next week, according to his office.

The list includes legislation to expedite the rebuilding permitting process and increase local housing supply, as well as efforts to protect displaced residents, such as a bill co-authored by Assemblymember Tina McKinnor (D-Hawthorne) that would prohibit evictions if an existing tenant takes in wildfire victims or their pets.

The far-ranging news conference also referenced a number of legislative efforts that have already been introduced, including a bill put forth by Assemblymember Jessica Caloza (D-Los Angeles) that would create a grant program to provide direct financial aid of up to $1,500 per impacted household to take care of essentials.

Assemblymember Isaac Bryan (D-Los Angeles) has also introduced bills to raise the pay for inmate firefighters during the hours that they are “actively fighting a fire” and freeze residential rental price rates across Los Angeles County.

Other efforts include a bill co-authored by Assemblymembers John Harabedian (D-Pasadena) and Jacqui Irwin (D-Thousand Oaks) that would allow anyone who lost their home in the fires to receive up to a year of mortgage deferral. Harabedian’s district includes the areas hardest hit by the Eaton fire, while Irwin represents residents who’ve been devastated by the Palisades fire.

“For those of you have lived in Altadena or Pasadena for a long time, the Eaton fire is the worst catastrophe that we could have imagined. We know that we live in a fire-prone area, but I don’t think we could have imagined the level of devastation that we have seen here in the San Gabriel Mountains,” Harabedian said Thursday morning, promising that he and his fellow lawmakers would support residents throughout the long road ahead.

Before leaving the podium, Harabedian recalled an old wives’ tale that he said would be familiar to anyone raised at the edge of the San Gabriel Mountains.

There are a row of trees that line right where Mount Wilson is atop the hills, and parents have long told kids that those looming trees are “the cavalry coming over the mountains,” the Sierra Madre native said.

“I will tell you, the cavalry is here,” Harabedian said. “The cavalry is behind me and it is coming.”