Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday signed seven new laws aimed at tackling the state’s homeless crisis, begging a skeptical public to be patient as the nation’s richest and most populous state struggles for keep people off the streets.
Among California’s myriad problems – including wildfires, historic drought, and climate change affecting them both – homelessness is perhaps the most visible, with tens of thousands of people living in camps in cities large and small across the state.
The homeless crisis in California was the main topic of discussion among Newsom critics before the pandemic, a topic Newsom touched upon in a significant way when he devoted his entire speech to the “State of the World”. ‘State’ of 2020 to the question.
Over the past three years, California has spent more than $ 2.4 billion in state and federal money on a handful of large homelessness programs, most of them going to local governments for things like renting hotels and motels to house the homeless during the pandemic.
The programs have been successful, but have done little to change the public’s perception of the problem of homelessness – a fact Newsom acknowledged at a press conference in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
“We live in a situational world where people want to see results immediately,” he said. “But when it comes to these problems, it takes years and years to see these results.”
California’s budget this year includes about $ 7.4 billion to pay for 30 housing and homeless assistance programs, according to an analysis by the non-partisan Office of the Legislative Analyst. The budget commits approximately $ 12 billion to homelessness assistance programs over the next two years.
Almost all of this funding will go to local governments. But a law Newsom signed on Wednesday will, for the first time, give the state more leverage over how local governments spend that money. Newsom signed a law drafted by MK Luz Rivas, a Democrat from Arleta, which creates a new governing body to distribute up to $ 2 billion in funding for the homeless to local governments.
The California Interagency Council on Homelessness, which replaces an existing homeless council, will include the directors of half a dozen state agencies that must review and approve local government plans to spend the money.
“No plan, no money,” Newsom said Wednesday. “We don’t just come with sticks, but with real carrots.”
Newsom also signed a law requiring all 1,037 school districts in the state, including charter schools, to identify their homeless students and refer them to services for themselves and their families.
“In California, there are enough homeless kids to fill Dodger Stadium five times,” Rivas said, referring to a 2020 UCLA study. “We have to end this.”
The Newsom administration has identified 100 of what it called the state’s “high-level” homeless settlements and “attached deadlines and strategies to start cleaning them up permanently.”
He hinted that he would soon be announcing something with the mayor of Los Angeles about this “infamous camp that you all know well.” It’s a possible reference to LA’s Skid Row, where a federal judge previously ordered the city and county to find housing for everyone, to have that decision overturned on appeal last week.
Newsom also signed a law requiring California to prioritize its share of federal housing money over projects that serve homeless people with chronic health conditions. California is expected to receive approximately $ 130 million from the National Housing Trust Fund, according to legislative analysis.
“Housing and health go hand in hand, and this law will save lives because it recognizes the importance of both,” said Julie Snyder, director of government affairs at the Steinberg Institute, a non-profit organization that sponsored the legislation. with other groups.
