Budget Acts of 2023 and 2024.

Senator Wiener's budget amendment bill makes substantial modifications to California's 2023 and 2024 Budget Acts, establishing new funding mechanisms for wildfire response and expanding support for Indigenous communities. The legislation provides $16 million in competitive grants to federally recognized tribes to address missing and murdered Indigenous people cases through culturally-based prevention strategies and enhanced law enforcement coordination. Up to 5% of these funds may support grant administration through 2028.

The bill creates a $2.5 billion emergency response framework, authorizing the Director of Finance to augment department appropriations by up to $1.5 billion initially, with potential for an additional $1 billion, to address impacts from January 2025 wildfires. These funds will support evacuations, environmental testing, hazardous waste removal, and other protective measures. The legislation also establishes property tax backfills for affected jurisdictions and requires detailed expenditure reporting.

For environmental initiatives, the measure allocates over $180 million from the Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparedness, and Clean Air Fund across six state conservancies for regional conservation efforts. The State Air Resources Board receives nearly $55 million for emission reduction programs, including $19.8 million dedicated to the Clean Cars 4 All Program in districts with demonstrated demand.

The bill maintains fiscal oversight through mandatory expenditure reports while providing administrative flexibility to expedite emergency response. Departments must seek maximum federal reimbursement for wildfire-related expenses, with recovered funds returning to the General Fund. The legislation takes effect immediately as a budget bill.