Homelessness remains one of California’s more vexing issues, and the next governor will have to contend with nearly a quarter of the entire country’s homeless population.
CalMatters’ Marisa Kendall, in partnership with the Steinberg Institute and Abridged — PBS KVIE, spoke with four of the eight top-polling candidates for governor to learn more about what they’d do to address homelessness if elected:
Force treatment: Though a UCSF study found that one-third of homeless Californians regularly used drugs, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco asserts, without citing a specific source, that closer to 95% of unhoused people have a substance use disorder. To solve homelessness, Bianco said people must be forced into treatment, “whether they want it or not,” so they can stabilize.
No more ‘housing first’: California has had a nearly decadeslong housing first policy that prioritizes providing unhoused people a place to live, even if they use drugs or alcohol. But former Fox News host Steve Hilton says that model has been a “complete disaster,” and wants to direct state funding toward sober housing. Hilton also wants to overhaul state-funded programs that tackle homelessness and look into wasteful spending.
Look locally: Since 2019, San Jose has reduced the number of people sleeping on the streets by nearly a quarter. So for the city’s mayor, Matt Mahan, he would apply what cities and counties are doing across the state: Push for more temporary housing, as well as ADUs and market-rate housing, fund permanent homeless housing and allow police to arrest people who turn down multiple offers of shelter.
More housing: In addition to potentially investing in tiny homes while addressing the need for more housing overall, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa says he would withhold money from counties that aren’t effectively implementing CARE Court. He also wants to boost training programs with California colleges and universities to deal with the labor shortage of mental health care professionals.
The CalMatters Ideas Festival convenes policymakers, journalists and community leaders for conversations about the issues shaping California, including a main stage discussion with The Lincoln Project. Join us on May 21 in Sacramento. Purchase tickets.
Focus on Inland Empire: Each Wednesday, CalMatters Inland Empire reporter Aidan McGloin surveys the big stories from that part of California. Read his newsletter and sign up here to receive it.
Other Stories You Should Know
Where’d that number come from?
From CalMatters politics reporter Yue Stella Yu:
Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to spend $25 million to tide over certain financially distressed hospitals until the new fiscal year.
But state senators are skeptical — not because they are opposed to the plan, but because the governor’s staff couldn’t say how they arrived at the dollar amount.
During a Tuesday budget hearing, senators unanimously supported the bill, but not before pressing department of finance staff and the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office for answers — to no avail — on how they calculated the figure, how they decided the criteria and whether the money would be enough to keep those hospitals open.
Guadalupe Manriquez with the state’s finance department told lawmakers “this is our best assessment” but cited no specific data.
Is CA doing enough to help crime victims?
From CalMatters local news fellow Cayla Mihalovich:
A criminal justice advocacy group on Tuesday released a report that charged the state’s Victim Compensation Board is failing in its mission.
California established the first-of-its-kind victim compensation program 60 years ago to provide financial aid for crime recovery expenses such as funeral costs, income loss and mental health services to eligible survivors and their families. But survivors and advocates have long voiced concern over the compensation board’s stringent criteria and discretion, which they say has locked out and revictimized people who have been harmed by violence.
Findings from the new report by Californians for Safety and Justice reveal that the compensation board last year rejected one third of applicants. In 2019, it denied one in 12 survivors.
- Tinisch Hollins, executive director of Californians for Safety and Justice: “By failing survivors, the state is effectively subsidizing the next generation of violence.”
California Voices
CalMatters columnist Dan Walters: Nothing that happened at Tuesday’s debate appeared to be a game changer, though the usually reserved Xavier Becerra displayed a more animated side of his persona in response to critical comments.
San Luis Obispo County is looking into expanding the plant near Diablo Canyon as a possible solution for a drought-proof water supply, but Fukushima should serve as a reminder of what can happen when risks are underestimated, writes William Simpson, author, researcher, naturalist and activist.
Other things worth your time:
The campaign against voter ID in CA is off to a slow start // Politico
Newsom calls on election officials to count votes faster // The Sacramento Bee
Climate activist Steyer wants to run CA. Coal helped fuel his wealth // The New York Times
As Swalwell’s public profile grew, more than a dozen women describe how he made them uncomfortable in private // CNN
Trump slashed scientific research funds. A massive CA bond could offset the cuts // San Francisco Chronicle
CA’s population falls amid cut in legal immigration // San Francisco Chronicle
Trump’s plan to reshape immigration courts: Can the DOJ fire its way to faster deportations? // The Orange County Register
Billionaires pour millions into ballot fight over CA wealth tax // The Mercury News
Shot in the head and face at LA ‘No Kings’ protest, two men are seeking justice // Los Angeles Times
