The Nation’s First Public Wildfire Catastrophe Model Helping Homeowners Understand Their Property’s Wildfire Risk Moves Forward in the Assembly
SACRAMENTO – State Senator Cortese’s bill creating the nation’s first-of-its-kind public wildfire catastrophe model to assess wildfire risk, inform insurance rates, and educate the public about wildfire risk passed the Assembly Insurance Committee.
Senate Bill 429 now moves forward to the Assembly Emergency Management Committee on July 14.
SB 429 is part of a historic package of bills investing in Firesafe California following the fires that ravaged Los Angeles communities in last January.
This public model is intended to provide transparency to homeowners, allowing them to understand their property's wildfire risk and how it might affect insurance rates.
“Up until now, insurance risk data has been private. If homeowners know what their risk score is, they can proactively reduce wildfire risk and bring down wildfire liability at their home and property,” said Senator Dave Cortese. “A public wildfire catastrophe model predicts future losses and can be a benchmark for fair and accurate insurance rates and provide accessible data for wildfire safety efforts.
State Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has sponsored the bill.
SB 429 also expands the one-year moratorium on insurance cancellations and requires annual inspections to maintain defensible space requirements in high fire severity zones.
The public model strategy group chaired by Cal Poly Humboldt, earlier released its final report and recommendations. Click here:
Senator Cortese has authored and co-authored several other bills that are part of the historic package of bills investing in Firesafe California.
Background:
Senator Cortese has authored and co-authored several bills that are part of a historic package of bills investing in Firesafe California following the fires that ravaged Los Angeles communities in January.
- SB 429 – Creates the nation’s first public wildfire catastrophe model, improving insurance transparency and risk planning.
- ** SB 616 (Joint-Author) – Establishes a Community Hardening Commission to unify and modernize home fire protection standards.
- SB 653 – Supports environmentally sensitive vegetation management to protect both communities and ecosystems.
Senator Cortese has co-authored the following fire protections bills:
- SB 581 The Fight for Firefighters Act to phase out seasonal CalFire firefighters who work nine months out the year - typically laid off during the winter months - and transition these 3,000 firefighters to full-time status.
- SB 36 – Price Gouging
- SB 663 – Provide Property Tax Relief Following The 2025 Southern California Fires
- SB 625 – Speed-up Residential Rebuilds Following A State Of Emergency
- SB 616 – Insurance Community Hardening Commission
- SB 547 – Commercial Insurance Nonrenewal Moratorium
- SB 676 – Extend California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Streamlining For LA Fires & Other Disasters
- SB 582 – Rebuilding Health Facilities, Assisted Living and Child Care Facilities and other licensed Facilities
- SB 571 – Strengthen Penalties Against Bad Actors During A State Of Emergency
- SB 629 – Keeping Communities Safe From Wildfires
- SB 641 – Consumer Protection And Business Recovery