Newsom proposes $100 million fund to close wildfire rebuilding gap Play

The funding gap — it is the difference between the available fire insurance money and the cost of rebuilding houses after the big fires. It's a major issue in Malibu.

The average fire victim from the Palisades/Malibu fires is short about $1.5 million between what is available to rebuild their homes and what their insurance covers.

California Governor Gavin Newsom today will propose a $100 million taxpayer-funded account to help wildfire victims bridge the gap.

The new fund would be designed to cover loan-loss guarantees to lenders, in which the state would commit to paying back a percentage of a loan amount if a borrower defaults. The state guarantees will lower the risk for lenders, cutting the cost to homeowners and making more people eligible for the mortgages.

The money would also be available for fire victim homeowners to "buy down" their interest rates during the construction period.

The Eaton and Palisades fires killed 31 people and destroyed over 16,000 structures in January 2025.

The governor also announced a major expansion in CalAssist — the program that covers mortgage payments owed by fire victims. Only three months of mortgage payments were covered. That's been extended to 12 months, up to $100,000.

More than 1,000 L.A. County firestorm survivors have turned to CalAssist grants to cover their mortgages for three months.