Monday, May 18, 2026

Eaton Fire Survivors Plan Sacramento Bus Trip to Lobby State Lawmakers on Five Recovery Priorities

A Dena Rise Up coalition bus trip will leave Pasadena on Monday for a State Capitol press conference and legislator meetings

More than 80 Eaton Fire survivors and community advocates plan to board a bus at the Pasadena Community Job Center on Monday at 9 a.m. for an advocacy trip to Sacramento, where the group plans to hold a State Capitol press conference Tuesday followed by visits with legislators.

The trip is organized by Dena Rise Up, a coalition the group describes as local organizations advocating for what it calls a just and inclusive recovery led by survivors themselves. According to the coalition’s press release, the trip’s priorities include three bills now moving through the Legislature — AB 1642 by Assemblymember John Harabedian (D-Pasadena), SB 878 by Senator Sasha Renée Pérez (D-Pasadena) and SB 1301 by Senator Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica) — along with a proposed CARE Fund and the Eaton Fire Survivors Network’s Urgent Housing Relief Proposal. The trip falls 16 months after the Eaton Fire, which the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said destroyed 9,418 structures.

In its press release, Dena Rise Up said the trip will “bring fire-impacted residents directly to state leaders to elevate urgent needs around immediate and long-term housing relief, rebuilding resources, fair insurance protections, and environmental remediation.” The coalition described the trip as the largest survivor-led fire recovery mobilization in California this year.

The departure point, the Pasadena Community Job Center at 500 N. Lake Ave., is operated by the National Day Laborer Organizing Network. The coalition formed after a June march in Altadena and is co-convened by Catalyst California.

The three pending bills among the coalition’s priorities are at different stages.

AB 1642, the Wildfire Environmental Safety and Testing Act, would direct the California Department of Toxic Substances Control to adopt emergency regulations by July 1, 2027, specifying how contamination should be investigated, tested and removed in residential areas after a wildfire. The bill is sponsored by Eaton Fire Residents United, an Altadena-based grassroots group, and cleared the Assembly committee and will next be considered by the California State Assembly Committee on Appropriations, according to Harabedian’s office.

“Today, I am proud to welcome Eaton Fire Residents United as a sponsor for AB 1642: Ending Insurance Driven Fire Testing and Establishing Science-Based Safety Standards,” Harabedian said in a March 3 press release. “No family should have to worry about whether their home is safe after a fire.”

SB 878, the Insurance Payment Accountability Act, would impose a 20 percent annual interest penalty on insurers that fail to meet payment deadlines and would require insurers to respond to claims in writing on a timely basis, according to its author’s office. SB 1301 would require property insurance companies to give six months notice before nonrenewing a policy, clearly disclose the reasons for nonrenewal and any information used to make that decision, according to Consumer Watchdog, the bill’s co-sponsor. Both measures passed the Senate Insurance Committee and have headed to the Senate floor, according to Consumer Watchdog.

“Together, these bills will make a real difference for Californians who have faced incredible hardships from the devastating Eaton and Palisades fires,” Pérez said in a statement on the passage of SB 878 and a related bill.

“This is about keeping families in our homes,” said Joy Chen, executive director of the Eaton Fire Survivors Network, in a statement on the introduction of SB 1301. “Right now, people are being dropped without warning or explanation, left scrambling and scared.”

The fourth priority, described in the coalition’s press release as the CARE Fund, is characterized as addressing the rebuild gap, community land acquisition, affordable housing construction subsidies. The press release lists a current funding figure of $25 and a coalition ask of $300, without specifying units.

The fifth priority, the Urgent Housing Relief Proposal, is a coalition demand the Eaton Fire Survivors Network published in December calling on Southern California Edison to advance up to $200,000 per impacted household. Edison has launched a separate Wildfire Recovery Compensation Program; Edison has not admitted liability. The cause of the fire officially remains under investigation.

The bus trip follows a Dena Rise Up demonstration on May 8 outside Southern California Edison’s Altadena Rebuild and Community Hub on Fair Oaks Avenue.

“We are demanding Edison advance $200,000 for every household that’s been displaced from the fire, immediately,” Adriata Bautista of Dena Rise Up said at that demonstration, according to ABC7 Los Angeles.

Monday’s departure is set for 9 a.m. at the Pasadena Community Job Center, 500 N. Lake Ave. The State Capitol press conference is scheduled for Tuesday, May 19.

AB 1642 next moves to the Assembly Appropriations Committee. SB 878 and SB 1301 are awaiting Senate floor action.