Newsom Vetoes Raise For Firefighters As LA Blaze Recovery Remains Frozen

Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed pay raises for the state’s firefighters months after the disastrous Los Angeles County fires that caused billions in damage.

Massive fires swept through Southern California in early January, burning thousands of acres across several cities and forcing hundreds to flee their homes. During the crisis, Newsom was criticized for his leadership. On Friday he released a letter to the California State Assembly stating that Assembly Bill 1309 would “create significant cost pressures for the state.”

“This bill would require the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to pay firefighters within 15 percent of the average salary for corresponding ranks in certain local fire departments. This measure would also require an annual survey of the salaries and benefits for fire chiefs in five specified fire departments,” Newsom wrote.

“While I appreciate the author’s intent, this bill would create significant cost pressures for the state and circumvent the collective bargaining process. State employee salaries, along with other components of compensation such as health and pension benefits, should be determined through collective bargaining,” Newsom added. “Establishing a statutory salary floor for employees of a single department undermines this process, to the detriment of both the state and other bargaining units.”

Assembly Bill 1309, introduced in February as a bipartisan measure by Republican California Assembly Member Heath Flora, sought to require the state to pay firefighters in State Bargaining Unit 8 — employed by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection — within 15% of the average salary for comparable ranks in 20 listed California fire departments.