Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a bipartisan bill that would have raised salaries for California’s Cal Fire firefighters, despite the state battling the most expensive wildfire in its history just months earlier. Assembly Bill 1309 proposed aligning Cal Fire pay within 15% of the average compensation of 20 comparable municipal fire agencies across the state. Entry-level Cal Fire firefighters currently earn about $54,122 annually, while new hires in departments like Los Angeles make upwards of $85,000. Firefighter unions and bipartisan lawmakers argued the increase was necessary to address recruitment shortages, dangerous understaffing, and inequities across fire services.
In his veto message, Newsom cited concerns over “significant cost pressures” and argued that the legislation would override California’s collective bargaining process. Critics from both parties labeled the move out-of-touch and demoralizing, especially after the 2023 Smith River Complex Fire, which cost over $600 million to fight and highlighted chronic staffing gaps in Cal Fire’s ranks. Union leaders condemned the veto as a setback to firefighter morale and public safety, warning that low pay discourages long-term retention.
Newsom defended his decision as a necessary step to preserve the integrity of labor negotiations and maintain fiscal discipline amid California’s projected multi-billion-dollar budget deficit. However, the backlash points to broader frustrations with the state’s handling of its wildfire preparedness strategy. With fire seasons becoming longer and deadlier, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are calling for stronger investment in front-line responders—something this veto, they say, fails to deliver.
