2026 Legislative Session: What It Means for Wildfire & Climate Resilience

Leg Update 

The 2026-27 Legislative session ended early on the morning of September 1 after a whirlwind final week of bills and budget decisions. SBC was closely following wildfire funding, as amid the competing end-of-session priorities, there was real concern that the Legislature would not meaningfully fund wildfire risk reduction this year. Without action, the state was on track for its smallest wildfire resilience investment since 2019, despite a worsening wildfire crisis.

A last-minute proposal from Governor Newsom on wildfire liability and heated negotiations between the Assembly, Senate, and Governor took up most of the time at the end of the session. A compromise was eventually reached, but the Assembly unexpectedly rejected the proposal in the final hours of the session, leaving the issue for a special session this fall or in 2027. Despite this turmoil, the Legislature made a funding plan for Prop 4 (the 2024 climate bond) and the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) that restored and increased funding for climate resilience from the June budget. 

In the context of California’s challenging budget situation, the additional climate funding from Prop 4 and GGRF is a win for priorities in the Sierra and across the state. However, this year’s wildfire allocation is still the state’s second-smallest investment in wildfire resilience since 2019, and there is no plan to increase funding for wildfire resilience in future years. Low Cap-and-Invest auction revenues, changes to Cap-and-Invest regulations, and Prop 4 running out in the next few years all highlight the need for the state to find a more sustainable and long-term source of funding for climate resilience.

See more details on funding in Prop 4 and GGRF below:

Prop 4

The amount of Prop 4 money allocated increased from $2.1 to $2.6 billion since the June budget.  This included: 

• $329.5 million for Wildfire & Forest Resilience (up from $314 million)
• $288.4 million for Biodiversity & Nature-Based Climate Solutions (up from $199 million)
• $103.8 million for Parks & Outdoor Access (up from $35 million)
• $245.9 million for Extreme Heat Mitigation (up from $241 million)
• $103.6 million for Climate-Smart Agriculture (up from $89 million)

The new Prop 4 spending plan included a significant number of earmarks instead of opportunities for competitive grants. Earmarks rarely benefit the Sierra region, as they are often skewed towards other parts of the state, despite the number of projects in the Sierra that would benefit from Prop 4 dollars

GGRF

Due to low auction revenues, all programs in GGRF that previously received continuous appropriations (Tier 3) were expected to be cut significantly this year. For example, wildfire resilience funding, originally at $200 million, was predicted to fall to $48 million. 

Due to an additional $200 million increase in discretionary funding, with $100 million from higher revenues and $100 million from reducing the General Fund backfill for CAL FIRE, the Legislature was able to allocate additional funds for programs in Tier 3. This included:

• $70 million for wildfire prevention programs at CAL FIRE ($118 million total for wildfire resilience)
• $50 million for the Sustainable Agricultural Land Conservation Program (SALC) (in addition to funds from Tier 3)

The changes to Prop 4 and GGRF are a solution for this year, but the state needs increased and sustained investment to meaningfully address the climate crisis. By acting now, California can restore resilient landscapes and protect communities, people, and infrastructure before it is too late.