(NewsNation) — Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass cut the LA Fire Department budget by $17.6 million before multiple wildfires broke out in the area in the past week, destroying more than 10,000 structures and killing 10.
Political pundits and critics of California’s leadership are pointing to this, and other environmental legislative acts, as reasons for the exacerbation of wildfires and other natural disasters in the state.
Political commentator Bill O’Reilly joined NewsNation’s “CUOMO” Thursday night to discuss how California officials have responded to the devastating wildfires scorching the Los Angeles area.
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“California is a mismanaged state from almost top to bottom, and the fall lies with the voters who elect people like Karen Bass and Gavin Newsom,” O’Reilly said. “Progressive leadership leads to destruction and death.”
O’Reilly criticized Bass’ and California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s “progressive governance,” saying it doesn’t work, even in natural disasters.
“Everybody in California knows that the ecosystem there is dangerous and fragile. Everybody knows there are going to be fires. There are going to be mudslides,” he said.
A memo from the fire chief to the mayor on Dec. 17, 2024, indicated that the department is facing challenges from the budget cuts.
“The LAFD is facing unprecedented operational challenges due to the elimination of critical civilian positions and a $7 million reduction in Overtime Variable Staffing Hours (V-Hours),” Fire Chief Kristin Crowley wrote. “These budgetary reductions have adversely affected the Department’s ability to maintain core operations, such as technology and communication infrastructure, payroll processing, training, fire prevention and community education.”
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Bass declared a local state of emergency Tuesday when the fires broke out. At the time, she was thousands of miles away in Africa for the inauguration of Ghana’s president and a meeting with the country’s first female vice president, according to reports by NewsNation’s partner The Hill.
When she returned the next day, the criticism was in full force.
“She went to Africa. How could she know there was going to be fires?” news anchor Chris Cuomo challenged O’Reilly in the live interview.
O’Reilly also criticized the California Insurance Commission, questioning why it hasn’t negotiated with insurance companies to bring premiums down.
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“I’m just saying I don’t think it’s a progressive problem. I think it’s an insurance leverage problem,” Cuomo pushed back, citing Florida’s battle with natural disasters and insurance claims.
“What I’m submitting to you tonight, Cuomo, is they in California, they don’t even try. All they do is virtue signal, when you have a police chief in the second largest city in the country, telling the mayor, ‘Look, you cannot cut the budget (by) $12 million. We need more firefighters. We need more equipment,’ and the mayor goes blank,” O’Reilly said. “That’s just the truth.”
