CA lawmaker calls for federal investigation amid fire, while Sacramento calls for unity and accountability

California lawmakers called for unity amid Los Angeles’ historic wildfires, while at least one sent letters to Congress calling for federal investigations into Sacramento’s wildfire preparedness and environmental policies.

Republican legislators too said at a news conference Monday that any talk of rigging the special session with the express purpose of supporting the state against President-elect Trump should be quashed.

Assemblyman Carl DeMaio, R-San Diego, said he is sending letters to appointees of the new Trump administration and top lawmakers for oversight, suggesting officials in Sacramento will not “get to the truth” about the fires.

DeMaio said tragedies like the wildfires are a rare issue that can unite Republicans and Democrats, adding that Californians are “united in wanting the best for these communities for a speedy recovery.”

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“But I also believe that Californians are also united on the very important question of accountability. Why weren’t we better prepared for this disaster? All Californians are asking that question.”

DeMaio said the special legislative session should include oversight hearings on the issues he argued Governor Gavin Newsom he didn’t answer enough.

“It was given to him [questioners] nothing but evasion and yes, frankly, dishonesty,” DeMaio argued. “I don’t believe we’re going to get to the truth if we leave the investigation to Governor Gavin Newsom and other state and local politicians.”

DeMaio said two of his letters were sent to Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rand Paul and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, both of Kentucky, to investigate “numerous failings by state and local politicians regarding these fires.”

He added that he will ask President-elect Trump to also sign an executive order asking federal agencies to investigate California’s lack of brush management, public land maintenance and inadequate water supply and infrastructure in fire-affected areas.

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Lawmakers also hit out at insurance companies and warned that the state’s insurance market could become insolvent if changes are not made due to declining coverage and private companies pulling out of the state.

Assembly Minority Leader James Gallagher, R-Yuba City, noted that his district survived the 2019 Paradise Fire and expressed the caucus’s condolences and support to those dealing with the crisis in Los Angeles.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to those community members and first responders who are fighting and doing God’s work in fighting these fires as we speak. I want to make sure we’re doing everything we can to help keep people safe, help people recovery,” Gallagher said.

“[W]We must do much more to combat and prevent catastrophic wildfires in our state,” he said, adding that both wildfire prevention and issues with the state’s insurance market must be addressed in a special session.

Gallagher said that in 2021, he and other lawmakers fought for $1 billion in funding for such issues, and that since then there has been a big cut in appropriations.

“We are calling for immediate recovery action to ensure these communities recover from this disaster, but also for real solutions to help us be a stronger, more resilient nation against catastrophic wildfires.”

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DeMaio, Gallagher and Sen. Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield, also expressed concern about the state’s insurance marketplace.

Grove listed nearly a dozen insurance companies that she claimed had either stopped writing California home insurancelimited renewals or leaving the state market.

She noted that homeowners can’t get or refinance a mortgage without proof of insurance and called for “permanent removal of red tape and speeding up cleanup and recovery and rebuilding for all Californians affected by the wildfires.”

For his part, Newsom reportedly proposed $2.5 billion in additional funding for emergency response and preparedness.

Assemblywoman Diane Dixon, R-Newport Beach, said seven of California’s 15 deadliest wildfires have occurred in the past 10 years and little appears to have changed in the way of preparedness.

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Former Republican Gov. Pete Wilson reopened the Santa Monica Freeway just 66 days after the 1994 earthquake-induced collapse, she said.

Under Newsom, CalFIRE’s ranks and budget nearly doubled to nearly 11,000 members and $3.8 billion. The state budget for forest management has also been increased under the potential presidential candidate in 2028.

In a tweet dismissing Republican claims of slashing fire prevention funding, Newsom’s press office tweeted that it presented “a deliberately misleading graphic that begins when a one-time budget supplement is injected to respond to the 2019/2020 horrific wildfires.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Newsom, as well as the Trump transition and Comer for a response to DiMaio’s letters.