The California Assembly shelved a wildfire victim relief bill on Tuesday, Sept. 1, denying more than 11,000 LA-area households a faster path to compensation.

Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister) pulled Senate Bill 492 from the floor without a vote on the final day of the legislative session. The bill would have created a fast-pay program for fire victims drawing from the state's California Wildfire Fund, banned hedge funds from buying wildfire insurance claims and barred utility executives from collecting bonuses if their company's equipment sparked a blaze that destroyed more than 500 buildings.

"The proposal before us does not yet deliver the relief, accountability or meaningful reform that Californians deserve," Rivas said in a statement, Spectrum News reported.

The bill's collapse came one day after California's three investor-owned utilities wrote to legislative leaders opposing the compromise. PG&E, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric had collectively lost more than $20 billion in market value between the end of trading Friday, Aug. 28, and Monday morning, the Press Telegram reported. Edison stock rebounded 7.3% on Sept. 1 after the bill died. PG&E shares rose 6%.

More than 11,000 households have filed suit against Edison over the January 2025 Eaton Fire, which killed 19 people in Altadena, according to the Los Angeles Times. LA County fire investigators found that one of Edison's transmission towers sparked the blaze. Edison denies negligence. The company's profit in 2025 soared more than 200%, climbing from $1.3 billion in 2024 to $4.5 billion, the Times reported.

State Sen. Josh Becker and Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris (D-Irvine) introduced SB 492. Gov. Gavin Newsom had signed off on the compromise version over the Aug. 30-31 weekend but called it insufficient after it stalled, saying the measure "did not meet the gravity of this moment."

The failure marked a rare legislative defeat for Newsom in the Democratic-controlled Legislature during his final session before leaving office in January 2027.

Joy Chen, executive director of Altadena-based Every Fire Survivor's Network, blamed the utilities for torpedoing the deal. The group grew out of a pickleball group chat into a network of more than 10,000 Eaton and Palisades fire survivors. Chen's organization issued a joint statement with Consumer Watchdog accusing the utilities of killing the bill rather than accepting a compromise that rejected the bailout they sought.

Assemblymember John Harabedian (D-Pasadena), whose district includes fire-ravaged Altadena, also opposed SB 492, calling it a proposal that "only rearranges the chairs on the deck of the Titanic," CalMatters reported.

Lawmakers did pass one fire-related measure. AB 1642, authored by Harabedian, would create the nation's first standards for testing and cleaning up lead, asbestos and other toxic contaminants inside homes after a wildfire. That bill passed Monday, Aug. 31.

Petrie-Norris said the Legislature plans to hold hearings this fall on wildfire costs. No dates have been set. When asked whether Newsom would call a special session, spokesperson Tara Gallegos told reporters: "Stay tuned."