 All right. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Mark Gillard. You're the director of the governor's office of emergency services Today we have the governor here and a number of our public safety leaders To really talk about a number of things that we are continuing to do to enhance preparedness and public safety throughout the state You know, let me start by framing the fact that In the last few years we have seen increasingly complex and extreme disasters that have resulted in significant amount of damage and destruction and loss of life 2018 alone Starting at the beginning of the year with the mudslides that occurred in Montecito in Santa Barbara County as a result of the Thomas fire following the 2017 fires all the way through 2018 with the number of fires And in the north ending with the campfire, which we all know In paradise was destructive for the entire town in all in 2018 We had more than 23,000 structures lost and almost over a hundred fatalities This is a very serious situation and we are continuing to work collectively and collaboratively to be able to address it Throughout our state and there are a number of initiatives that we're going to talk about today and and and Governor Newsom is going to brief us on But before the governor, I'm going to have Public safety partners that that that help manage at the state level Working with our local governments our local government fire law enforcement the sheriffs Our emergency managers are an integral component to our overall mutual aid system and Our preparedness system in making sure our communities are as safe and resilient as possible And it's important that we note that the public themselves need to continue to get engaged and informed To be as empowered as possible to protect their lives and property when these events happen So with that I'm going to Turn it over to our first speaker Tom Porter who is the acting director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Cal Fire Thank You director Giler Ducci I'm here to kind of set the frame framework for why It why coal facts? What is the significance of coal facts in in what is a statewide problem? The There are communities throughout, California that are just like coal facts There is a fire problem that we have that we have been working to mitigate through forest resilience work through fuel breaks through defensible space improvements and All that goes along with that pre fire element of wildfires So coal facts sits as many other communities including Auburn Dutch flat On the rim of the North Fork of the American River North Fork of the American River in this part of the state is a source of most of the large damaging fires that happen here and putting fuel breaks and fuel and forest resilience kind of programs Along the below the rim and along the rim near the communities is one way of reducing the intensity of fires and increasing the capability of firefighters to protect the communities Unfortunately last year the campfire really gave us a test and a Understanding that the the traditional methods that we've used are not working we have to do more and and This governor governor Newsom is going to be sure that we do so and has promised to support Our departments all of us behind me in making sure that happens that is the the relevance of why we're in coal facts and It's very important that that we understand that this is a statewide problem. Thank you Commissioner Stanley Thank You Tom and I just like to talk about the interagency aspect of dealing with these fires. They're so big They're so large and they can go on for a long time and from a law enforcement perspective There's so much law enforcement that is needed The CHP in the National Guard we can come in we provide assistance to the sheriff's department of the police department To help manage the fire so we can mitigate it and hopefully as soon as possible get people back in their homes Once the fire has been mitigated in the ways that we help out are with traffic control security general law enforcement and one thing that was Always so so very important when people have to evacuate their homes and go to a shelter They're concerned about the things that are left there in that home And one of the things that we help with help out with with the sheriff's department of the police department is patrolling for looters and there were some of that going on in the campfire and we were very happy And proud to assist with that and get those people off the streets and From that perspective, I want to say thank you to Governor Newsom for having the faith in the four of us here myself Mark Gilder-Ducci Tom Porter and General Baldwin. We've been working together for the last couple of years, especially We've had so many fires since 2017 and we make a great team. We work hard together We have a lot of fun, but we understand what's going on and we're able to bring in our resources resources to help mitigate these fires and Maintain public safety. So with that, I'll turn it over to General Baldwin Thanks Warren. Good afternoon everyone. The California National Guard has global commitments Indeed in the last two years. We've had soldiers and airmen deployed to all seven continents around the world But for the National Guard, job one for us is here at home protecting lives and property at the direction of the governor and the last few years as Tom Porter and Mark Gilder-Ducci discussed have been especially challenging as we've seen this tremendous uptick in the number of very large-scale disasters Mainly fires. As a result all of us within the interagency that's responsible for public safety have had to evolve the way That we do business Governor Newsom when he first came in here and effectively the first day on his job has directed that we continue to innovate and leverage Technology and specifically for the military department. How can we better use military technologies in order to help our Allied fire and law enforcement agencies protect lives of property here in the state now We've been innovative in the past with unmanned systems But now we're exploring and at the direction of the governor are going to continue to explore ways that we can enhance our Ground-based sensors other aerial platforms and even space-based systems So that we can provide notice and warning to people in real-time and to be able to support those out there on the line fighting The fires are responding to disasters with that technology Some of that change is not merely technological application But we also have to challenge some of the firewalls and systems that exist back in the Pentagon and back in Washington DC where there's rules that limit our access and our ability to leverage and use these systems in use of unmanned systems For example in order for us to fly our Reaper aircraft in order to support Cal Fire We have to go back to the Secretary of Defense who personally has to give us permission to do that That process can take hours or in some cases even days or weeks during an emergency. We don't have hours We need to be able to respond immediately So those are kind of rules and and old ways of doing business that we want to break down at the heart of Innovation is must be a willingness to change and a willingness to take on old ways of doing business and come up with better Ways of business doing business in order for us to respond Collectively in collaborative and with a synergistic effect across the interagency Governor Newsom has directed us to do that and all four of the leaders that stand before you are Poison have already been talking very excitedly about ways that we're going to work better together Breakdown stovepipes between our various agencies and we're collaborating in the interest of the people of Cal California with that I'll be followed by our Commander-in-Chief Governor Newsom Thank you to all of you for being here and and I'm Very pleased to be in Placer County up here in Colfax. I spent a good deal of my life Just up the road in Dutch flat where we have a home and down the road where my father was on the Superior court where I was Jennifer Small enough that I fit in that statue where the gold pan is I was actually Physically in the gold pan. I I don't think I can fit it in anymore, but that gives you a sense of my history in this part of the state and I am happy to be back here on my first day at work to make a Symbolic and substantive point that I place no greater Emphasis and energy and sense of urgency than on the issue of public safety Broadly defined and in particular the issues of emergency preparedness I don't know what more evidence one needed than having gotten gone through an election Only to wake up the next morning To face not only two fires one Up here in the northern part of the state one in the southern part of the state But also that tragic shooting down in southern, California I was as you may recall in my acting governor Capacity as lieutenant governor as the governor had left the state and it only underscored and reinforced the imperative That I place on making sure this state is more resilient and more prepared For natural and man-made disasters look it goes without saying the hots are getting hotter The dries are getting drier the wets are getting wetter You may call it climate change you may call it global warming someone called it global weirding to me the other day Someone at the monivista in we were playing Liars dice the other day said to me. I don't care what you call it He says something ain't right and the fact is the climate is changing and We need to change with it We still have Organized so much of the bureaucracy of government around a world that no longer exists around a fire season that no longer exists We staff up we staff down And now we're reacting to these old mores and that fundamentally has to change in the last few years I think substantive progress has been made in the state of California the legislature and Former governor Brown. I did think I think did a very good job in the last few years Leaning into these issues, but it's clear to me a lot more needs to be done You will see that demonstrably Recognized with our budget that I'll be releasing later this week We will place an historic investment in our emergency planning and emergency preparation in this state We will put over two hundred million dollars Not just the two hundred million that was announced last year on the cap and trade to deal with forest health And address some of the need to thin our forests and make sure they're more resilient We will place even more resources than that baseline. We will invest in Pre-positioning in ways we haven't in the past with more Support local level more mutual aid. We will invest the general said and more technology more cameras technology More strategies to access data like data satellite data and partner with our federal government On other technology that exists that frankly hasn't been utilized in the past We will make sure that we resource As well our efforts to focus on alert systems To build on some of the legislative efforts there Not just with the federal overlays with the we have program But some of the local strategies and the issues related to opting in to those alert systems versus opting out We are going to lay out a strategy and a framework to make sure there's more Consistency in the 58 counties in the state and the 470 plus cities that represent this state over three hundred and five million dollars Will be invested in this space of additional resources including a hundred and nine million dollars To continue our investments in new technology on suppression Specifically as it relates to these black Hawk helicopters that will be retrofitted for water Efforts and for fire suppression. We will continue to make investments in our C 130's And make sure that Cal fire has a fleet of these retrofitted C 130's One will be rolling out formally into our possession even though we have access to a number of these C 130's We have a goal of getting seven additional units over the course of the next few years. So new equipment Historic investment new strategies to plea pre deploy resources and assets Historic amount of money to address the need to invest in our forest to make them healthier And to make sure that they're more resilient and always an emphasis of supporting local government You'll see that also reflected in that budget with grants And with support to localize solutions as each and every part of the state Requires unique and distinctive strategies to address the broader issues of emergency preparedness in addition And I know we're here talking about wildfires in addition We will also be making the final capital investment of sixteen point three million dollars into our early warning earthquake early warning system Which is something I've been eager to see happen for years and years This final investment will complete our sensors All over the state and then we'll have to figure out strategies to make sure that we operationalize You may know Los Angeles did a version of what we want to do statewide We're going to build on some of the work They've done and make sure that every part of the state has the benefit of that early warning system as well So broad strokes. We are stepping up our game. I Hear you I get it We need to do more and do better these last two years have been devastating 167 lives have been lost and fires or floods Over 33,000 structures if you look back over a 24-month period have been lost in this state billions and billions of dollars of Property losses and we are at a point where everybody's had enough and we need to I think make sure we are prepared More than ever for the next few months as we enter into the height of our fire season So that's the spirit of why we're here Let me be specific about three additional things and then obviously open up to any questions And I can flesh out any of the details on the budget if you like as well And that is today. I signed two executive orders one Prioritizing a different strategy to address where we begin to make our investments And the strategy is a little different than we've seen in the past I want to use science in a way. We haven't and I also want to address the issue of social mobility in the way We haven't it's crystal clear to me that the two need to twin We need to know what parts of this state are most at risk for disasters for emergencies for wildfires But not just at risk from a fuels perspective And a property damage perspective, but also from the perspective of mobility and lives social economic considerations seniors People that don't have the mobility many others have folks that don't have the resources that others have and begin to overlay Those two things in a way that then will allow us to more I think strategically prioritize where our first investments are made. I have tasked the folks behind me Including the no longer acting director of Cal Fire But now the current and permanent director of Cal Fire To come back in 45 days with a report That lays out their priorities and in that report will also include the legitimate considerations of Sequa and The prospect of creating some programmatic EIRs to allow us to move forward much more expeditiously Once we have that prioritization And make sure that we hit the ground running in terms of making sure these dollars are being expended And making sure the communities are being protected number two I have been very frustrated with our procurement in the state of California broadly Particularly as it relates to technology and innovation in this space around emergency preparedness I don't want to bore you But we have a world of you know sort of jumbled language on RF eyes RFPs RF queues Where frankly we are determining solutions Putting these things out over the course of years and years and eventually some bidders come forward. Maybe they don't And by the time we actually get some product out the world's radically changed And what we've invested in no longer is relevant to the world. We're living in we want to flip that completely on its head And we found a code section. We've got some fancy lawyers Found some code sections that allow me by executive order. I didn't know I could do it by executive order This is it's kind of fun being governor I thought we I'll go through this legislative process, but we're just going to do it We just did it. In fact sign this executive order where we're going to come out with this new version Called RFI to and we had to come up with a name Basically, it's an innovation model that allows us to iterate in real time and to procure in real time different solutions And to test those solutions in the field before then we go through the procurement process I want to see things happen in real time and I want people to compete for that mind share and for That work and so it's a completely different framework again This I'm not sure any you're gonna be interested in nightly news not interested in this and I'm not sure any you're gonna print this but this is I think actually a really big deal and it it's an encouraging thing that everybody behind me agreed with it and Express similar frustration and hopefully they can be relieved of that frustration as we move in a new direction and finally We have also signed a letter because I believe in collaboration And that collaboration extends beyond California Governor Inslee and Governor Brown of Oregon have signed a letter Long with the state of California that we are now sending this afternoon to President Trump and The White House saying you know what rather than talking past each other Talking down to each other maybe we can start partnering and Doing the work that needs to be done to address our forest health and Forest management because at the end of the day, California has a de minimis amount of Jurisdiction the vast majority of what you see behind you what I see in front of us is federal Land and with all due respect they've cut their budget by two billion dollars in the last few years To make sure that land is healthier and yet we're being attacked for not doing our part when in fact last year 49% of the work we did in our forest was actually work for the federal government in their Jurisdiction and land so we put up a hundred and eleven million dollars Since 2017 for forest inning and half that was doing the job of the federal government now rather than Lamenting about that and as they say talking past each other. This is a letter of cooperation and collaboration And it's a letter that reconciles the fact that it's hardly unique To California these issues they matter greatly to Oregon and Washington State And so the three of us will be doing a lot more together And this seemed an obvious space for us to work Today and so that's a preview of things and and I'm happy to take any questions And there's that So we're working on that in real time I'm not gonna make news on that because I'm very sensitive to The things that governors say Particularly as it relates to the markets particularly as it relates to the magnitude of the challenge Particularly PG&E faces as a utility. We want a healthy utility. We want to utility It's investing in the future low-carbon green growth strategies. That's in an ideal world That's not the case today. And so we are We are addressing that issue in real time. In fact this morning at 8 a.m. We had a meeting on that exact topic and we have a commission as you know that the legislature has Organized and we are appointing three members to that commission We'll be announcing those appointments in the next few days And they will have a very short period of time That they will be tasked to come up with comprehensive recommendations. I'm not just waiting on that commission We are working collaboratively with members of the PUC with previous administration and Folks that I'm now bringing into our administration to address the solvency of PG&E a lot of this will be this a lot of this is a Budget that is part of the new budget that will go through the legislature Either to be supported rejected Some of it was committed as long-term investments, but require annual appropriation Including the cap and trade commitment, which was a one billion dollar five-year commitment with a baseline of two hundred million dollars a Year to invest in forest health. We're gonna actually increase That a little bit because we have some we have identified Additional projects that we want to move quickly and then there's a hundred plus other million dollars in other areas That are new investments in addition to some of the previous investments that I'll be asking for support from the legislature Well, you want to go through the list? Let's do it. I Happen to have it right here Three or five you're gonna see in the budget That I submit it will show a number of four hundred and fifteen point one. I can explain to you the difference But suffice it to say for the purposes of what I'll explain to you today The three hundred five million dollar figure will include the following items 213.6 million dollars for those fuel reductions and forest health 64.4 million dollars for what I refer to as surge capacity This would include the addition of five new Conservation Corps crews which matter to you because we were just down the road here And all that that was cleared out was done by the Conservation Corps So this I think will significantly advantage folks up here in Placer County will also have 13 new engines That we will be investing in and those engines will be pre deployed in areas across the state That will be recognized by the work that will be done over the next 45 days As critical what I would refer to lazily as red flag areas We will put in 25 million dollars of additional mutual aid To support local government and their pre-deployment work will put 50 million dollars Into a communication strategy and I know this may raise some questions But it was referenced a moment ago in my mark and others individuals play a huge role in their own Safety and it is incumbent upon us to organize strategies at the local level working with county supervisors working with local representatives To come up with communication strategies I as a former mayor invested in what we called our neighborhood emergency response strategies And we want to make sure that every region in the state is organizing at the grassroots level Strategies for evacuation strategies for emergency preparedness and the like that money will go in that space This is a big one and I'm glad you asked me to go through this list because I was remiss in not referencing a An investment in our 9-1-1 System it is old long overdue. We have an analog system in a digital world. It is rather remarkable That we haven't made this investment in the past Now in order to completely shift from the analog into a digital system It's going to require I know I know a 9-1-1 fee I know I get it No one's happy when they hear that word fee But we think it's appropriate The question is when do we move on the fee good people have different opinions? We're gonna have to get the legislature to concur on that, but I think this one crosses You know Republicans Democrats alike. I think most folks understand the importance of that But in the absence of the fee actually taking shape we put in 10 million dollars this year for upfront capital and 50 million because I look at things from not just a one-year Prism but from a two-year perspective 50 million dollars that I want to invest next year But tens all we can spend this year 50 we could spend next year as the fee ramps up and it's a 2020 I'm I'm I'm looking at this that we get that fee done ready to go Investments being made on that fee by 2020 but 10 million this year 50 million next year on the 9-1-1 fee We're gonna have plenty of time. I'm gonna go through four more to get to the other budget items And you're gonna have plenty of time ask your questions This because this may be interesting a few more of these things One of the things that's really important to me is the health and wellness of the men and women behind me and Something that was very indelible when I went down to Ventura. I was up a camp on multiple occasions fire was the impact That that fire was having not just on the individuals in uniform but their families and So we're investing in the health and wellness of our first responders as well And I include that in this budget because it deserves to be included in this budget That to me is hard money not soft money And that is new money to invest in making sure that we take care of the brain health Not just the physical health of the folks you see behind me We're also Making the investments as I noted in new technology on hundred plus new fire cameras Infrared cameras, which will be strategically deployed new remote-sensoring technology We are going to as I said put more investment in retrofitting the C 130's that were procuring from the Air Force And to the extent that it is relevant and I'll jump in We're going to make a three-year commitment, which we have never done before to the folks up in butte County and The folks in Lake County because we have not forgotten what happened in 2015 2016 2017 and 2018 in Lake County And that is backfilling their property tax losses. Usually that's not on an annual basis We're committing to three years for the folks up in butte and the folks up in Lake County And that is tens of millions of dollars To address that concern as well as making sure that pursuant to prop 98 will backfill the loss of per pupil ADA as it relates to the school district itself. So that's a preview of that budget Yeah, Munich re came out with a report today showing over 16 billion dollars of insurance losses Related to paradise alone only 12 billion of it insured and also looked at the magnitude worldwide of a world that's radically changing and the insurance risks Increasing consequence premiums around the world and reinsurance challenges, etc So this is along the lines of the PG knee question We just that front and center top of mind in his part and parcel of these larger conversations We're having again. I've been on the job now 12 hours And so we're bringing those same folks together on the wildfires on the utilities that is also when I consider those It's also proxy for the insurance question as well. Yeah, we spent seven hours. That was a look I once again, I'll repeat it. I was very Gratified that the president took the time to be here and I was gratified. We had the opportunity to spend seven hours Dialoging on this topic many other topics as well. That's for a book You get that that's often that was a joke But but we did have a chance to talk about that and you know, I know folks made some light about raking what I think the Pride it's interesting. I'll send him on that a little bit I think what he was talking about was defensible spaces Landscaping which has a role to play. I think that's important You know a lot of stuff gets conflated which is understandable But look he he's never played politics with disaster declarations and he deserves credit for that and we are grateful for that This is not an area for politics. He hasn't hesitated on any of those disaster declarations from the Orville Issued all these other fires and and you know, I'm pleased as well Kevin McCarthy's been extraordinary in this space also getting reimbursements with FEMA and we had the FEMA director with the president on marine one At very intimate conversations on marine one specific to reimbursements specific to forest health and Management and that's why the letter we sent was honestly in the spirit of collaboration and cooperation in the spirit of that Conversation and frankly a follow-up to that conversation now that I am in a position to more formally express myself as the new governor Yeah, forgive me. Look as a former mayor. I I recognize the stresses You all face on this topic your last thing you want is you know some guy in Sacramento may are telling you what to do in Auburn That said, you know You know, if you know, there's a point where you know common sense if it's not prevailing It's not an evidence. Maybe we can lean in a little and encourage and incentivize better behavior not You know discourage bad behavior, but incentivize better behavior meaning positively engaged as opposed to come in punitively But look I that that whole issue of the interface the wildland urban interface is real You look at most of the new construction last two decades. You look at just driving up here all the new investment You know right down this road, you know in this area You know, it's a legitimate concern And so the only way around it to accommodate the housing crisis Which is much worse because of all of these recent fires is density And that's the conversation. We're also having in legislature around what's density look like in big urban settings And how we could provide more density in around transit corridors, which was a raging debate last year Which actually the AP made national issue last year and that will be also part and parcel of the conversations We have this year and I think those two are related Yeah, they've been like yeah, well, I knew the last seven they they keep going. Yeah, they disappear Yeah Yeah, I know I think it look it allows me to pick up the phone because I have the cell phone of some of the Executives and have very honest conversations And allows them to feel more confident with me that they can have honest conversations and and we have during the transition We had some very sober conversations. I didn't just wait till I got sworn in yesterday before I had those conversations There's new leadership there. They've inherited a lot of these problems I mean, you know, I go back for mayor They're in the same Bruno days and there was a CEO and then there was another one between that time and now Gays is there and You know, I think it matters, you know the flip side of that someone could say well, he's too familiar with them So he lacks objectivity. Yeah, you know, yeah, you know, I try to be objective about these things as much as I can I'm a food you share to the people of the state of California. That's my role in responsibility to protect your interest Not PG knees interest, but sometimes those interests may align And that's where this gets complicated And so I think that that history actually will advantage. I hope ultimately a conclusion on this And what I'll do the end right after just because he gone kill me because he's been trying to talk about but go Oh, yeah, there is this. What is he saying? I haven't checked my Twitter feed So the general I we we we've been having conversations have been having with my staff the last few weeks We had a brief conversation a few hours ago on this topic and we are following up very shortly Because we will have a menu of he's providing me a menu of options in terms of What can be done what should be done? What's appropriate what would be inappropriate? What was our commitment under the executive order Governor Brown signed? How's the remuneration work? What exactly is the work currently being done versus the work that was initiated when the executive order was in the place and based upon the fact that we have militarized a large portion of our board over the course last six months and Pursuant to what I imagine may come out tonight as it relates to possibility of emergency declaration That will allow me the ability to assess Changing condition and then make a determination, but I can assure you I have not deviated from my previous statements in terms of my desire to move in a different direction And hope we'll be able to make an announcement on that sooner than later. I You know don't I'm Governor Brown said don't respond to hypotheticals or at least engage in them So I'm that's the one lesson I learned is this lieutenant governor Yeah, I know I'm sorry do that to you No, that's part of it. So that's part of it and there's there's in the number where you're gonna get confused and The budget the budget gonna be on in 45 days is the number in the budget book Which is 415 but there's a reason for that and and that's a more technical reason because that carries over money That you guys reported on last year and that goes to the frame of your question But the bottom line is three hundred Phil five million dollars of new investments in this space That I'll be asking the legislature to approve and I laid out some of the specifics that are additional money or new money That was not part of the budget in the past Some of it was a continuation of previous investments that were one time last year and I'm doing one time investments into the new year But three hundred five million is a good number for you to work off Yeah, the 911 fee is something that we are not we are proposing to enact but not in the Near term I do not anticipate that the legislature will act on that Before 2020 meaning I believe the fee will go into effect in 2020 Now the budget that I'm submitting does not include a Fee it includes capital investment in Lube of a fee to get started to start building out our system and that is 10 million This year 50 that I anticipate putting in next year's budget and then the fee will replace the need for any capital Appropriations and any general fund appropriations and that is what we are going to lay out in our budget book as the framework That requires two-thirds vote from the California legislature and that is a vote that is unlikely to occur in this legislative session And I can express and explain to you why and another time, but I'm not delaying this I want to make sure we're making capital investments today It's it's a mod it will be a relatively modest But by the way, this is old news There was an effort last year in the legislature to do the fee We're just building off the framework so you can go back to your old clips on this And you can get the details Look no one the last thing anyone wants to do is you know to come up on at a time when I'm about to announce an interesting surplus That will be a little more interesting than the one you've been right reading about or writing about I Don't think it's the right time to be talking about a new fee That's a said it would be wrong of me not to invest in the The the imperative that is Investing in our 9-1-1 system and that's why I will use some of that surplus and the general fund to make a down payment on that Until the conditions present themselves where I could convince two-thirds of my colleagues or two-thirds the legislature to To do the fee Thank y'all