Newsom Diverted Taxpayer Funds That Could Have Stopped Palisades Fires

In 2022, California projected that tribes, “cultural fire practitioners,” and others would conduct 25,000 acres of prescribed burning annually by 2025.

The state has not released any data on the tribes’ progress, and some tribal leaders apparently insist on keeping the fires small. As Ron Goode explained, “We never burn anything bigger than a big beaver hut.”

Meanwhile, victims of the deadly Los Angeles Palisades fire that began in January 2025 are still waiting for compensation from the state.

Newsom pledged a $2.5 billion relief package, but investigations revealed that a significant portion was used for state agency expenses, firefighting reimbursements, and highway patrols rather than going directly to affected individuals.

“Sixteen months after California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a $2.5 billion package of relief funds and other measures for the victims of the January 2025 wildfires, state records show most of the fund remains unused, few of the dollars reached victims directly and some of the money was diverted for law enforcement unrelated to the response to the fires,” NBC4 in Los Angeles reported this week.