On May 27th, 2026, the Wildfire Solutions Coalition submitted the following letter to urge the Legislature to maintain and strengthen California’s commitment to wildfire resilience in the Fiscal Year 2026–27 budget, including increasing investments from Proposition 4 and protecting the $200 million from GGRF for wildfire resilience. You can sign on to the letter here.
RE: Wildfire Solutions Coalition Opposes Cuts to GGRF Wildfire Resilience Funding, Urges Additional Prop 4 Investment
Dear Chairs Gabriel, Laird, Bennett, and Reyes:
The Wildfire Solutions Coalition is writing to urge the Legislature to maintain and strengthen California’s commitment to wildfire resilience in the Fiscal Year 2026–27 budget, including protecting the $200 million from GGRF for wildfire resilience and increasing investments from Proposition 4. The Wildfire Solutions Coalition is a statewide alliance of over 80 organizations committed to securing long-term funding for wildfire mitigation and resilience. We believe California must invest in proactive solutions that protect lives, homes, landscapes, and the economy—before the next fire starts. The goal of the Coalition is to secure the resources necessary to fully implement California’s wildfire resilience strategies and dramatically reduce the impacts of catastrophic wildfire across the state.
Simply put, now is not the time to cut funding for wildfire resilience. This winter, California experienced a prolonged snow drought, leading to a near-record low snowpack on April 1. The hottest March on record accelerated snowmelt, runoff, and the growth — and desiccation — of vegetation. Experts predict a hotter-than-average summer and an early, intense wildfire season. Under these extreme conditions, wildfire risk continues to grow, threatening lives, homes, infrastructure, critical natural resources, and our economy.
The May Revise states that the Big Three sources of General Fund Revenue are up $16.5 billion over January projections. However, the Department of Finance downgraded GGRF auction revenues, which means that wildfire resilience spending will actually decrease from the January proposal. As a result, this year’s budget includes only $419 million for wildfire resilience, with $105 million from GGRF and $314 million from Prop 4. This proposal represents the state’s smallest investments in wildfire resilience since 2019 — even though it comes on the heels of the costliest and most damaging wildfire disaster in state history. On average, wildfire costs California $117 billion annually, and in 2025, those costs exceeded $250 billion. There’s no question of whether we spend on wildfire; rather, it’s a question of whether we invest now in resilience to prevent disasters or wait to respond to them.
To close California’s wildfire funding gap, the Coalition urges the Legislature to use a small portion of the higher revenue to maintain essential investments to deliver community safety, economic stability, landscape health, and watershed protection. Specifically, we respectfully request the following commitments in this year’s budget:
- Restore and protect the $200 million from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) that has been traditionally invested in wildfire resilience. GGRF is currently the state’s only ongoing source of funding for wildfire resilience. Cutting that investment almost in half sets a scary precedent in which California may have no dedicated funding for wildfire resilience, even as the wildfire crisis explodes past its containment lines and threatens the fiscal and economic stability of the entire state.
- The General Fund is a more appropriate source for funding critical public services such as CAL FIRE operations, particularly given the increase in revenues since the January projections. The Coalition recommends reserving the GGRF to support essential climate resilience investments.
- Allocate $500 million of Prop 4 wildfire funding to meet the urgent need for greater investment in wildfire resilience. This year’s Prop 4 wildfire resilience funding is 47% lower than last year’s. Given increased pressure on other state and federal funding sources, a high-risk fire season, and shovel-ready projects across the state simply waiting for hundreds of millions of dollars, now is a good time to accelerate Prop 4 funding.
Californians are already paying for the consequences of inadequate investment in wildfire reduction. Wildfire risk is the number one cause of utility rate inflation over the last decade, and it has pushed up insurance rates and destabilized the property insurance market. In the face of immediate and acute risk to lives, homes, water sources, precious landscapes, and the state’s economy, we cannot afford to decrease our investment in wildfire resilience.
Proactive investments in wildfire risk reduction are among the most effective tools available to protect our state and reduce the risk of catastrophic fires. Every $1 invested in reducing the risk of catastrophic events like wildfire saves more than $6 in damage and cleanup costs, and $22 in future economic losses. Wildfire resilience projects also safeguard drinking water and clean air, protect public health, and ensure a future for California icons like the giant sequoia. The majority of Californians strongly support increased state spending on wildfire resilience.
Robust investment now can save us from agonizing post-disaster questions about why high-priority risk reduction projects were never funded or implemented. Given the scale of California’s wildfire crisis, the Coalition calls on the Legislature to prioritize opportunities to scale investment in wildfire resilience. Thank you again for your leadership on this important issue.
Sincerely,
Emily Blackmer, Director of Government Affairs, Sierra Business Council
Michael Jarred, Associate Director, The Nature Conservancy
Julia Bishop Hall, State Legislative Director, Association of California Water Agencies
Mac Cloyes, Managing Director of Government Relations, Blue Forest
Nuin-Tara Key, COO, California Forward
Bruce Saito, Executive Director, California Local Conservation Corps Foundation
Matt Dias, Executive Director, California Forestry Association
Nancy Wahl-Scheurich, Executive Director, California Association of Resource Conservation Districts
Julee Malinowski-Ball, Executive Director, California Biomass Energy Alliance
Caroline Godkin, Executive Director, California Council of Land Trusts
Peter Ansel, Senior Director of State Policy, California Farm Bureau
Enrique Huerta, Climate Resolve, Senior Director of Policy and Legislation
Dave House, Chairman, Firewise Old Oak Way
Michael O’Connell, President and CEO, Irvine Ranch Conservancy
Justin Caporusso, Executive Director, Mountain Counties Water Resources Association
Sam Uden, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Net-Zero California
Joanne Webster, President and CEO, North Bay Leadership Council
Staci Heaton, Senior Policy Advisor, Rural County Representatives of California
Seth Schalet, CEO, Santa Clara County FireSafe Council
Ben Friedman, Director of Government Affairs, Save the Redwoods League
Robert Trent, Executive Director, Sierra Commons
Jenny Hatch, CEO, Sierra Nevada Alliance
Eric Horntvedt, Wildfire Prevention Manager, Truckee Fire Protection District
Erik Holt, General Manager, Utica Water and Power Authority
Marissa Christiansen, Executive Director, Climate & Wildfire Institute
Nick Goulette, Co-Executive Director, Watershed Research & Training Center
Dede Smullen, Co-Founder and Chairwoman, Earth Foundries Inc.
Mark W. Toney, Ph.D., Executive Director, TURN – The Utility Reform Network
Stephen Cheung, President & CEO, Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) and World Trade Center Los Angeles (WTCLA)
Jordan Wells, Legislative Advocate, California State Association of Counties
Karen Gaffney, Director of Strategic Planning & Communications, North Coast Resource Partnership
Rebecca Guo, General Manager, El Dorado Water Agency
Paul Cook, P.E., General Manager, Irvine Ranch Water Agency
Mike Witherspoon, President, Oxylus Consulting