Bill to Help Homeowners Protect Homes from Wildfires Advances Committee
Sacramento, CA – Today, SB 1041 by State Senator Jesse Arreguín (D-Oakland) advanced from the Senate Local Government Committee. The bill, known as the Fire Hardening Act of 2026, would provide a new option for qualified homeowners to fund home hardening projects to protect their homes from wildfires through the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program.
“Recent catastrophic wildfires have accelerated efforts to advance climate resiliency efforts across the state, yet expensive but vital home hardening projects remain out of reach for too many homeowners,” said Senator Jesse Arreguin. “SB 1041 will protect communities by providing innovative and affordable financing options to assist homeowners in defending their homes from wildfires.”
Climate change has made wildfires more extreme, and, as the 2025 Los Angeles Fires demonstrated, can impact neighborhoods outside of high-risk fire hazard zones. A disproportionate number of victims killed in wildfires are seniors. Notable examples include the 2018 Camp Fire in Paradise, killing 85 people with the average age of 72; the 2017 Tubbs Fire in Santa Rosa that killed 22 people with the average age of 73; and the 2025 Eaton Fire in Altadena that killed 19 people with an average age of 77. Seniors with mobility issues do not have the ability to evacuate in a timely manner. Additionally, seniors are more likely to live on a fixed income, preventing them from having the financial means to do home hardening projects that protect their property from wildfires. Older adults are among the state’s fastest-growing demographics, with California expected to have more people aged 60 or older than people under the age of 18 for the first time in history by 2030.
The PACE program provides property owners with the ability to pay for home improvements that improve energy efficiency or seismic retrofitting by leveraging their home equity, allowing them to pay the costs of improvements over time through a voluntary increased assessment on their annual property tax bill. This provides financial flexibility for those who are unable to pay for the entirety of major home improvements up front. PACE is regulated by the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, ensuring strong consumer protections and a vigorous vetting process to give consumers peace of mind.
In 2018, SB 465 was signed into law, which expanded PACE to include wildfire safety improvements in high-risk fire hazard zones with a sunset of January 1, 2029. However, the bill as written prevented third-party administrators from offering financing, making this provision out of reach for many consumers. SB 1041 fixes those issues by making the rules for qualification clearer, allowing more financing options, expanding access to homeowners in over 350 PACE-authorized jurisdictions, and removing the sunset.
“As wildfire risk escalates across California, the Fire Hardening Act of 2026 equips homeowners with a critical new tool to protect their lives and property,” said Vinay Gupta, CEO of Renew Financial. “Renew Financial is thankful for Senator Arreguín for authoring SB 1041 and is proud to support this effort and applauds today’s passage in the Senate Local Government Committee as an important step toward building a more resilient California.”
SB 1041 now heads to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
###