Assembly Member Gabriel and Senator Wiener's amendment to the Budget Act of 2024 allocates $4 million to expedite residential rebuilding in areas affected by the January 2025 wildfires. The Department of Housing and Community Development will distribute these funds to Los Angeles City and County, Malibu, Pasadena, and other local governments to accelerate planning reviews and building inspections for homeowners rebuilding on properties they owned before the fires.

The legislation provides $1 million in additional funding to help rebuild damaged school facilities in the Los Angeles and Pasadena unified school districts, as well as affected charter schools. The Department of General Services' Division of State Architect and Public School Construction programs will oversee these recovery efforts through June 2026, with provisions allowing the Director of Finance to extend support to other impacted schools.

To enable broader disaster response, the bill authorizes the Director of Finance to increase emergency operations funding by up to $1 billion through April 2025. These funds can support evacuations, sheltering, hazardous waste removal, environmental testing, and other protective measures. The Department of Finance must publish regular expenditure reports detailing the use of these emergency funds, with updates required through April 2025. The executive branch is directed to pursue maximum federal reimbursement for all eligible wildfire response and recovery expenses.