Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new executive order Tuesday morning intended to cut “bureaucratic red tape” to help Southern Californians rebuild after the January wildfires.
Newsom originally declared a state of emergency on Jan. 7 after a pair of deadly fires broke out in the Pacific Palisades and Altadena areas. The flames torched approximately 47,900 acres, destroying or damaging more than 16,250 structures.
I’m issuing an executive order to remove bureaucratic barriers, extend deadlines, and provide critical relief to Los Angeles wildfire survivors.
We’re helping Angelenos rebuild, access essential services, and recover more quickly. pic.twitter.com/2UHZwitOCr
— Governor Newsom (@CAgovernor) February 4, 2025
To help families across the devastated areas, Newsom signed the following policies into effect:
- Suspends caps on administrative costs for state-funded preschool programs and community development grants.
- Extends deadlines for families to submit documentation for state-funded preschool and child care programs.
- Extends deadlines for reporting requirements for state-funded preschool and child care programs – including enrollment, attendance, monetary, and language information reports
- Extends deadlines for health care providers to submit requests to the Department of Health Care Services for changes in scope of service.
- Allows the Department of Developmental Services to suspend certain legal requirements to ensure individuals with developmental disabilities continue to receive services without interruption.
- Extends deadlines for families to submit eligibility documentation for participation in CalWORKs program.
- Extends deadlines for public officials in Los Angeles County to submit FPPC reports.
- Terminates suspensions of regulatory requirements for private firefighters.
- Extends the deadline for individuals claiming disaster-related tax relief to submit required documentation.
- Adds three new ZIP codes to prior executive orders providing tax relief and prohibiting real estate speculation until April 10, 2026.
- These protections are also afforded to the 91024 (Sierra Madre), 91103 (Pasadena), and 91367 (Woodland Hills) zip codes.
- Exempts housing in zip codes with high fair market values, which has not previously been on the rental market, from required rent caps to help ensure that they are available for rental during recovery efforts.
- Expands rental price gouging protections to leases of any length, rather than only leases of one year or less.
- This protection is a response to examples of leases being offered for 366 days to avoid the original mandate.
“As Los Angeles rises, we will continue to remove the barriers that would stand in the way,” Newsom said in a statement. “This executive order provides targeted relief from regulations that impact victims and would otherwise slow this community’s quick recovery.”
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