Governor Gavin Newsom today issued an executive order to further assist communities across the state recovering from devastating wildfires dating back to 2017. The order extends the state’s prohibition on price gouging for Butte, Los Angeles, Mendocino, Napa, Santa Barbara, Sonoma, and Ventura counties.
The full text of today’s executive order is below:
EXECUTIVE ORDER N-22-19
WHEREAS since 2017, California has faced unprecedented wildfires, causing widespread destruction in numerous counties throughout the state; and
WHEREAS following these wildfires, impacted communities have faced an extremely challenging recovery process that, in many communities, remains ongoing today; and
WHEREAS on November 28, 2018, then Governor Brown issued Executive Order B-59-18, which extended price gouging protections for numerous counties impacted by wildfires in 2017 and 2018; and
WHEREAS on May 31, 2019, I issued Executive Order N-12-19, which extended price gouging protections for certain counties in which recovery from devastating wildfires was still underway; and
WHEREAS communities impacted by these wildfires in Butte, Los Angeles, Mendocino, Napa, Santa Barbara, Sonoma, and Ventura counties have indicated the need for price gouging protections to remain in place to enable them to fully recover because, for example, many rebuilding permits have not yet been submitted, much less approved, and in some instances local law enforcement agencies have had to resolve criminal liability relating to price gouging activity; and
WHEREAS under the provisions of Government Code section 8571, I find that strict compliance with the various statutes and regulations specified in this order would prevent, hinder, or delay the mitigation of the effects of the wildfires.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GAVIN NEWSOM, Governor of the State of California, in accordance with the authority vested in me by the Constitution and statutes of the State of California, and in particular, Government Code sections 8567 and 8571, do hereby issue the following order to become effective immediately:
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the time limitations set forth in Penal Code section 396, subdivisions (b), (c), (e), and (f), prohibiting price gouging in time of emergency, are waived. These price gouging protections will remain in effect through December 31, 2020, in Butte, Los Angeles, Mendocino, Napa, Santa Barbara, Sonoma, and Ventura counties.
This Order is not intended to, and does not, create any rights or benefits, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity, against the State of California, its agencies, departments, entities, officers, employees, or any other person.
I FURTHER DIRECT that as soon as hereafter possible, this Order be filed in the Office of the Secretary of State and that widespread publicity and notice be given of this Order.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of California to be affixed this 23rd day of December 2019.
GAVIN NEWSOM
Governor of California
ATTEST:
ALEX PADILLA
Secretary of State
Good morning, can I come inside and share some of my concerns with you remaining hopeful that I will be heard and I will get an email or a phone call inthe future from you responding to my request and concerns? Governor Newsom,my name is Marlon Milo and I am just a regular old Afro American woman that abide by the law’s and pay taxes on the dollar each time I have one to spend. I reside in the the Inland Empire for the past 44 years and have been looking for a place that I can rely on as a resource that is actually and honestly helping me with and others like myself that are dealing with financial low income housing and or homelessness. I am hanging on to a thread of hope but my doubt is working it’s way almost consuming the time left before disaster, too many failed resources from the Temecula Valley to Victorville CA. I am suffering from the diagnosis of Frozen Shoulder, doctor’s note that this is caused by either being diabetic or thyroid disease and its really painful to me plus it attacks self-esteem at the highest level of confidence when you can no longer perform a few minutes to groom oneself and or continue to work on your job and or seek employment because of the difficulty moving forward with the lack of mobility to move your arms. Therefore I am seeking to find a way to get the attention of the governor of the State of California and will you please investigate the managers in these resource centers and find out where the resources are going and how the donations are really and honestly helping with people like myself that are having emergency and urgent crises to get help from the resources given to me to contact for this help? I have called every resource centers since January of 2019 DPSS, CATHOLIC CHARITIES, UNITED WAY, SALVATION ARMY, PERRIS VALLEY RESOURCE CENTER, HOME CONNECT,PATH OF LIFE, LUTHERAN SERVICES, COMMUNITY ACTION PROGRAM, FOOD BANKS, CROSSWORD CHRISTIAN CENTER, and a host of other places only to have the phone number doesn’t work or there is no funding. I have been to the food banks for food and any other assistance that was provided some of the places you can get the attention by distribution of food is not properly functional testing for the dates of the food which is way past the time of use. Most of the volunteers are going through the products for self gain and family members that are getting more than their share and withholding the funds for illegal use towards their own personal gain. Please governor Newsom I am asking for your help in this matter? We The People who live in the Inland Empire are in need of a resource that is valid and honestly helping me and others like myself that urgently need help. I know you’re a very busy man and I think you are doing an amazing job with the state of California. Anyone who can stand up to Donald Trump’s threat’s for funding has to be awesomatic. I will leave my information below. Honestly seeking assistance!
I have great empathy for your situation. I have been a victim of the Getty fires and as I am not in a homeless situation, I , too have found that getting any assistance is almost impossible. All of the state and federal agencies I have contacted have a “pass it on to another office” system in place. No one has been able to give me any assistance or concrete definition of what assistance is available. I am a single woman who pays my taxes and have worked and contributed to my community for almost 40 years. I had hand surgery shortly after the fires. Within a few days of my surgery, county representatives knocked on my door to inform me that I will need sand bags to help stop mud slides due to the loss of vegetation on the hill sides above my home. When I went to the fire station they could not assist me in getting sand bags made and delivered to my home to protect it and told me that i should get my gardener or contractor to come to the station.
Who is here to help us as citizens that have paid our property taxes, sales taxes and contributed as a working class citizen? The work of the firemen to save my home and neighborhood was nothing short of heroic but what about the weeks and months following the fires? There is tremendous stress, trauma, and rebuilding that takes place and there has been no help from any government agency and seemingly no overseeing of the insurance companies dealings in helping victims. I, too, appeal to you Governor Newsom to help us as a community, and individuals. What kind of help we can expect in the rebuilding process?