California law boosts funding for wildfire home hardening

Californians will now be more prepared to make upgrades to their homes against wildfire risk.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the Wildfire Mitigation Affordability Act (SB 894), a bill that will improve the insurability of communities, provide low-interest loans for improvements and increase defensive space around residential units.

The author of the bill, state Senator Ben Allen (D-Pacific Palisades), said that the financing structure is modeled after the state’s GoGreen energy-finance platform.

The bipartisan bill passed the legislature with overwhelming support.

“California is taking an important step toward making wildfire resilience more affordable,” said Allen. “If we want safer communities and a more stable insurance market, we have to help Californians take meaningful steps to protect their homes without putting those improvements financially out of reach.”