Wildfire Safety and Risk Mitigation Program.

Senator Cortese's wildfire safety legislation establishes a new research program within California's Department of Insurance to develop public modeling tools for catastrophic fire events. The program would fund universities to create research centers focused on building computer simulations that predict potential property damage from major wildfires, with the resulting models made accessible to public agencies and emergency planners.

The Department of Insurance would administer competitive grants to universities under specific criteria, including benefits to disadvantaged communities, assistance to government wildfire protection efforts, and educational opportunities for students in risk analysis. Grant recipients must develop models incorporating environmental risk factors while providing detailed, property-level assessments to inform community mitigation planning. The legislation creates a dedicated account within the Insurance Fund to support these activities.

The department must create a framework and multi-year implementation plan for the modeling program, publish key development milestones, and provide budget recommendations to the legislature and governor by September 2026. The program would take effect upon receiving legislative appropriation, operating alongside existing insurance regulations and federal wildfire initiatives to enhance California's wildfire preparedness and response capabilities.