A bill by a Santa Barbara County legislator intended to help victims of mudslides, and debris flows related to brush fires is now on the Governor’s desk for his consideration.
SB 917 tries to clarify the law to say that if someone has insurance for a brush fire, that insurance would also cover related impacts like a mudslide or debris flow. The legislation was authored by Democratic State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson of Santa Barbara in the wake of January’s destructive debris flows in Montecito.
The State Assembly and State Senate passed the bill, so it’s now in the hands of the Governor.
State Insurance Commission Dave Jones warned insurance companies he considered the Montecito disaster to be related to the massive Thomas Fire. He told them they would be expected to cover people with fire insurance who didn’t have flood insurance.
