DRIVING THE DAY: Easing winds delivered a brief but much-needed reprieve to firefighters as they battled two massive blazes burning in the Los Angeles area, and the National Weather Service pushed back its unusually dire warning of critical fire weather until early Wednesday, the Associated Press reported. But Red flag warnings remained in effect from Central California to the Mexican border until late this afternoon. THE BUZZ: SEPARATE WAYS — Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and Senate pro Tem Mike McGuire have agreed not to tether aid for the Los Angeles fires to Trump-resistance funding, they exclusively told Playbook. The commitment from the California Legislature’s top two Democrats follows a similar promise from Gov. Gavin Newsom, who called the special session and earlier this week unveiled the fire aid. It also spares Republicans from a difficult vote after they railed against Democrats for possibly forcing them to choose between helping Southern Californians recover and rejecting funding to sue the incoming Trump administration. The agreement, reached during a meeting between the Legislative leaders in Sacramento, put to rest 36 hours of growing speculation about how lawmakers would approach the state’s special Trump-resistance legislative session after Newsom expanded it to include the fire aid. Previously, neither Rivas nor McGuire had said if they wanted to combine or separate at least $2.5 billion for fire response and mitigation and $50 million in Trump-resistance funding. It was not until Tuesday that Newsom indicated a clear preference. The governor “wants the disaster aid passed on its own and approved swiftly without any unnecessary delays,” administration spokesperson Tara Gallegos said in a statement. Senate Budget Committee Chair Scott Wiener initially said on Monday that he planned to combine them. That caused the GOP to tee off, accusing Democrats of playing politics with fire prevention in the middle of a crisis. “I wish,” Senate Republican leader Brian Jones told Playbook on Tuesday, Democratic legislators “would stand their ground a little bit and push back on this very bad idea.” The approach contrasts with congressional Republicans’ considerations of tying federal disaster aid to the debt limit. Much of California’s congressional delegation panned the proposal, but there are several other ways Trump could slow the flow of funding into the state. The agreement between Sacramento Democrats does not reflect a deal on the specifics of the fire aid, though negotiators have endorsed the Trump-resistance funding. Assembly Budget Committee Chair Jesse Gabriel, in a phone call with Playbook, said the Assembly Democratic Caucus is still reviewing the governor’s proposals to spend $1.5 billion from the recently passed climate bond and $1 billion from an emergency fund on wildfire response and mitigation. Gabriel just received draft language Monday night, he said. But, he said, “We’re going to get this done, and we’re going to get it done quickly.” McGuire and Rivas also converged on deadlines Tuesday. The Senate and Assembly will hold budget hearings on the proposals Jan. 22 and floor votes the week of Jan. 27, giving them more time to iron out the details as Assembly Democrats solicit feedback from Los Angeles members whose districts are impacted by the fires. — With help from Lindsey Holden GOOD MORNING. Happy Wednesday. Thanks for waking up with Playbook. You can text us at 916-562-0685 — save it as “CA Playbook” in your contacts. Or drop us a line at dgardiner@politico.com and bjones@politico.com, or on X — @DustinGardiner and @jonesblakej. WHERE’S GAVIN? In Los Angeles, working with local, state and federal fire officials responding to the fires.
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