Gov. Newsom reduced the fire budget by $100M prior to deadly California fires.

The review of the 2020 California state budget indicates that Governor Gavin Newsom reduced funding for wildfire and forest resilience by over $100 million.

According to a Newsweek report, the 2024-25 fiscal year budget, signed in June, cut $101 million from seven "wildfire and forest resilience" programs.

In the Los Angeles area, over 10,000 buildings have been destroyed by the ongoing California fires, which remain uncontained.

The report noted that Cal Fire experienced a $5 million reduction in spending on fuel reduction teams, including the use of funds for vegetation management work by the California National Guard.

Other changes:

• $28 million cut from multiple state conservancies that expand wildfire resilience
• The "home hardening" experiment aimed at safeguarding homes from wildfires had its funding reduced by $12 million.
• The reduction of $8 million in monitoring and research funding, primarily allocated to Cal Fire and state universities, has been announced.
• The forest legacy program, which motivates landowners to manage their properties, will have a $4 million reduction in funding.
• $3 million cut from funding for an inter-agency forest data hub

On Friday night, Izzy Gardon, the director of communications for Newsom, labeled the budget cuts as a "ludicrous falsehood" in a statement to Planet Chronicle Digital.

"Since taking office, the governor has doubled the size of our firefighting army, built the world’s largest aerial firefighting fleet, and increased forest management ten-fold. Facts matter."

Instead of discussing the recent cuts, he presented data on the overall growth in spending and staffing since his tenure began in 2019.

As of 8 p.m. Friday, Cal Fire had not yet responded to a request for comment.