Senator Dave Cortese’s Bill To Establish the Nation’s First Catastrophic Model for Wildfires Moves Forward

SACRAMENTO – The state Senate Insurance Committee today passed Senator Dave Cortese’s Senate Bill 429 that would establish the nation’s first public catastrophic model for wildfires. It is a transparency tool to even out the playing field and allows residents and communities public access to their property’s risk score.

The bill now goes to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

“If homeowners know what their risk score is, they can mitigate wildfire risk to bring down wildfire liability at their home and property,” said Senator Dave Cortese (D-Silicon Valley). “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 supports the bill. 

“Our goal is to make communities safer,” said Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, who is sponsoring the Wildfire Public Model Act. “Publicly accessible information is vital for driving positive change. A public wildfire model will be an important resource for state agencies, local governments, and organizations focused on protecting lives and homes from catastrophic wildfires -- as well as making insurance more available and affordable.”

Last fall the state Department of Insurance and Cal Poly Humboldt formed a strategy group to make recommendations for a public wildfire catastrophe model. Senator Cortese’s bill will codify those recommendations.

On Tuesday, the public model strategy group chaired by Cal Poly Humboldt, released some of the recommendations below. The group will issue its full recommendations on May 12. 

  • A public wildfire catastrophe model is a multi-year effort that will require ongoing support and funding. This effort can take place in stages or phases as work progresses.
  • A public model should reside outside of government but not at a private firm. A new research consortium or center, including one or more universities, could provide the independent, expert, publicly accessible structure.
  • The Insurance Commissioner should advocate for funding for research and development on key components of wildfire catastrophe models that overlap with public policy priorities.
  • The Commissioner should identify specific projects to promote public data collection, public communication, training, and educational opportunities that expand and strengthen connection between the public and wildfire risk mitigation.

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