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California bills · 2025-2026 Regular Session

California SB 973

Wildfire County Coordinator Program.

  1. Introduced
  2. In committee
  3. Passed Senate
  4. Passed House
  5. To Governor
  6. Became law

Sponsors

Cosponsors (2)

Summary

Official abstract published by the California legislature· summary

Existing law establishes the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force and requires the task force to develop a comprehensive implementation strategy to track and ensure the achievement of the goals and key actions identified in the state's Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan, as provided. Existing law requires, on or before March 1, 2026, and every 5 years thereafter, the task force to update the action plan. The Budget Act of 2025 provided for a community hardening program in the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection that includes home hardening certification and a wildfire county coordinator program, appropriated $9,500,000 to the department to make available to the California Fire Safe Council for the Wildfire County Coordinator Program, and required the county coordinators to prioritize home hardening, defensible space, planning, and education for community-level wildfire mitigation efforts. This bill would require the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to establish the California Wildfire Preparedness Program to (1) establish recommended guidance for the use of available wildfire risk modeling and analysis tools by organizations, as specified, (2) develop guidance and tools related to wildfire risk assessments, (3) support the development or updating of county-level wildfire risk assessments, (4) maintain oversight authority for the Wildfire County Coordinator Program, as provided, and (5) develop guidance and templates for the creation or revision of county-level wildfire preparedness prioritization and implementation plans, and accompanying guidance for integrating these plans with related wildfire resilience programs, as provided. This bill would provide in code for the Wildfire County Coordinator Program to support countywide coordination of and capacity for community wildfire mitigation, prevention, preparedness, and recovery activities, as specified. The bill would require the department to enter into an agreement with the California Fire Safe Council to administer and deliver the program. The bill would require the program to, among other things, establish capacity in participating counties to plan and execute specified activities in support of the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan and collect data on local mitigation and preparedness activities, including costs and outcomes, as provided.

Text versions

Roll-call votes

State vote data last updated Oct 15, 2026, 8:06 AM.

DateVoteResultYour legislators
Aug 27, 2026
Senate		Special Consent SB973 Becker et al.passSet your home in California to see
Aug 24, 2026
House		SB 973 Becker Senate Third Reading By BennettpassSet your home in California to see
Aug 13, 2026
House		Do pass as amended.passSet your home in California to see
Jun 29, 2026
House		Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with recommendation: To Consent CalendarpassSet your home in California to see
Jun 22, 2026
House		Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Emergency Management] with recommendation: To Consent CalendarpassSet your home in California to see
May 26, 2026
Senate		3rd Reading SB973 Becker et al.passSet your home in California to see
May 14, 2026
Senate		Do pass as amendedpassSet your home in California to see
May 4, 2026
Senate		Placed on suspense filepassSet your home in California to see
Apr 21, 2026
Senate		Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with the recommendation: To Consent CalendarpassSet your home in California to see
Mar 24, 2026
Senate		Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Emergency Management] with the recommendation: To Consent CalendarpassSet your home in California to see

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