Calderon improves fire hazard severity zone designation process
Assemblymember Lisa Calderon (D-Southeast LA County, including Whittier, La Puente, Industry) introduced legislation (AB 2517) last week to improve the Fire Hazard Severity Zone Designation Process (FHSZ).
Under current law, FHSZ designations in local responsibility areas must be “periodically” reviewed. AB 2517 modifies the FHSZ designation process, focused on improving the frequency in the release of the FHSZ maps and creating a more publicly accessible and transparent process to achieve greater awareness and understanding of these designations.
“As wildfire risks increase due to climate change and evolving fuel conditions, up-to-date hazard mapping is essential for fire prevention, emergency response planning, and public safety. FHSZ maps inform building codes, insurance rates, and evacuation planning, but irregular updates have left communities relying on outdated risk assessments,” said Calderon.
“AB 2517 ensures science-based, regularly scheduled updates that reflect current wildfire threats, providing fire agencies, local governments, and residents with the best available data for effective mitigation and preparedness efforts. By establishing a clear and consistent review timeline, this bill strengthens California’s wildfire prevention strategy and enhances the state’s ability to protect lives, property, and infrastructure,” the lawmaker added.
Specifically, AB 2517 improves the FHSZ designation process by, among other things, requiring a five-year frequency for when maps shall be updated by the State Fire Marshal and requiring a preliminary release of the maps to allow for a transparent, public process for local governments and stakeholders to provide updated land use information to the state prior to the maps being finalized.
The League of California Cities also supports the legislation.
Padilla flags IRS-ICE Taxpayer Privacy Data Sharing Violations
U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, last week flagged a U.S. district judge ruling that the data-sharing system between the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) resulted in almost 43,000 cases of the Trump Administration violating strict taxpayer privacy laws:
“The IRS’ mass handover of sensitive taxpayer data to ICE isn’t just outrageous — it is flatly illegal. This unprecedented breach of taxpayer privacy tramples the rights of immigrants and citizens alike,” said Padilla.
“Because of the Administration’s reckless, error-prone data-sharing system, innocent, hardworking people who pay taxes and contribute to our economy are being put directly in harm’s way and may have been wrongfully targeted for immigration enforcement. This is exactly the kind of abuse our tax laws were carefully designed to prevent.”
Padilla has led the charge against the IRS-ICE data-sharing agreement. Last month, Padilla and Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) demanded answers and accountability from the IRS after the agency admitted in a court filing that the flawed system it adopted to transfer people’s home addresses to ICE potentially led to thousands of records being shared improperly in violation of taxpayer privacy laws.
“I will not stop fighting to hold Kristi Noem, Scott Bessent, and all those responsible accountable for this unlawful scheme in Donald Trump’s cruel mass deportation campaign,” said Padilla.
Whitesides urges safeguards following Pentagon AI ultimatum
U.S. Rep. George Whitesides (D-Santa Clarita, Palmdale, Lancaster, portions of San Fernando Valley), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, last week sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth following reports that the Pentagon issued an ultimatum to Anthropic demanding “unrestricted” military access to its artificial intelligence (AI) technology or risk losing its government contract.
Hegseth gave Anthropic a near-term deadline to remove certain safety guardrails from the company’s AI systems, including limits related to fully autonomous military targeting and domestic surveillance.
“We are reaching an inflection point with artificial intelligence,” said Whitesides. “AI has the potential to strengthen our national security and deliver extraordinary benefits across American life, but powerful technologies deployed without clear guardrails, transparency, and accountability risk eroding public trust and undermining the very democratic values we are trying to defend. Today, I urged Secretary Hegseth to pause any decision that would remove AI guardrails until Congress can work with the Department to establish proper safety and oversight.”
In his letter, Whitesides expressed concern that compelling a private company to abandon established safety policies on an accelerated timeline could set a dangerous precedent for how AI is deployed in high-stakes national security contexts.
The Department of Defense has awarded AI contracts worth up to $200 million to Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, and xAI as part of its effort to integrate advanced AI tools into military systems, including classified and unclassified networks.
Following the letter, President Trump decried Anthropic and declared that it’s AI; Claude would not be used by any federal government agency.
Friedman lauds in hate-motivated graffiti in Burbank
U.S. Rep. Laura Friedman (D-Burbank, Glendale, West Hollywood, Hollywood) last week lauded the Burbank Police Department for having made an arrest in connection with a hate-motivated graffiti vandalism at Temple Emanu El in Burbank.
The incident occurred on Feb. 16, when Burbank Police officers responded to the synagogue, on the 1300 block of North Glenoaks Boulevard, after two large swastikas were found painted on the building’s exterior wall. Officers canvassed the area for witnesses and surveillance footage, and detectives began an extensive follow-up investigation.
Through investigative efforts, detectives identified a juvenile suspect who was also connected to a separate hate-related incident at Los Angeles Mission College, where Neo-Nazi recruitment materials had been posted on campus. The 17-year-old male has been arrested in connection with hate-motivated graffiti vandalism at Temple Emanu El.
“Temple Emanu El is my temple. I’ve gathered there with family and friends to worship, celebrate, and find community. It is a place that welcomes everyone, not just those of the Jewish faith, and seeing the desecration of its walls with swastikas is heartbreaking. Antisemitic hatred strikes at the heart of everything our community stands for,” said Friedman.
“This is not the first time Temple Emanu El has been targeted, and in this climate of skyrocketing levels of antisemitism, I would unfortunately not be surprised if it is not the last. It will take all of us speaking up and standing together as a community to stop hate wherever it exists. There is no room for silence. I am grateful for the swift action by the Burbank Police Department and the LA County Hate Crime Task Force in bringing this suspect to justice, and I will never stop fighting to root out antisemitism from across our nation.”
