San Francisco – Governor Gavin Newsom urged the cities of California on Monday to clear the camps of homeless people, once again increasing their efforts to address an intractable problem of their time in office: the improvised tents that cover the underground steps, parks and local streets in the state.
Newsom administration drafted a local law that counties, cities and towns can adopt or modify directly to achieve the objectives of the democratic governor. It is also releasing $ 3.3 billion in funds approved by voters to expand housing and treatment options for homeless residents.
“The time for inaction is over. There are no more excuses,” said Newsom in a statement.
Newsom, a former mayor of San Francisco, made addressing the lack of housing a priority of his administration when he assumed the position in 2019 and since then, democratic leaders in the state have also moved to take energetic measures against the camps. The State represents a quarter of the homeless population in the United States, with more than 187,000 Californians who need housing.
With the tents that border the streets and the interruption of businesses in cities and cities throughout the state, the lack of housing has become one of the most pressing health and safety problems in California and that would surely pursue newspapers if it is postulated for the national position.
His statement comes a year after The United States Supreme Court facilitated officials Prohibit people homeless outside. It was a welcome failure by Many democratic leaders, including NewsomDespite the recoil of the defenders of the homeless who opposed the decision of the conservative court as cruel.
The key provisions of the model ordinance announced on Monday include prohibitions on the “persistent camp” in one place, a ban on camps that block sidewalks and the requirement that local officials provide notice and make all reasonable efforts to identify and offer refuge before cleaning a camp.
Providing a List Local Law could bring uniformity to how cities and counties take care of the camps, although Newsom urges local officials to modify their proposal as necessary.
The main cities such as Los Angeles and San Francisco have already begun to clean the camps, saying that they are not fair with children, the elderly and people with disabilities who need access to parks and sidewalks.
The new mayor of San Francisco, Daniel Lurie, committed to cleaning the sidewalks of the city While in San José, Mayor Matt Mahan has proposed arrests if a person rejects refuge three times. Both cities have increased the amount of refuge beds available so that more people have a place to go.
In Los Angeles, first -term democrat Mayor Karen Bass has made compensation camps A priority but fallen tents, improvised shelters and oxidized RVs remain too common in almost all neighborhoods. An annual count last year estimated that more than 45,000 homeless people lived in the city.
The efforts to reduce the lack of housing face greater stress, since the city holds with a projected budget gap of almost $ 1 billion along with the massive and expensive work of rebuilding the neighborhood of Pacific Palisades that was destroyed in a January forest fire.
A message was sent on Monday to Bass’s office for comments on the Newsom announcement.
Critics say there is no evidence that punitive policies reduce homeless people and camp prohibitions hinder the linking of people with stable homes and employment. People can lose critical documents or contact with a case administrator, forcing them to start over, says the National Alliance to end the lack of housing.
In 2024, California Voters approved a measure that impose strict requirements for counties to spend on housing and drug treatment programs to address the Homeless people crisis. It was a signature proposal for Newsom, who campaigned for the passage of the measure.
According to the measure, the counties must spend about two thirds of the money from a tax approved by the voters promulgated in 2004 in millionaires for mental health services in homes and programs for homeless people with serious mental illnesses or substance abuse problems.
The governor has also pressed the laws that Make it easier to force people with behavioral health problems in treatment. And has repeatedly threatened to retain state money from cities and counties that do not take a step forward to address the lack of housing.
But despite the approximately billions of dollars spent on more than 30 housing programs and homeless during the 2018-2023 fiscal years, California does not have reliable data necessary to completely understand why the problem did not improve in many cities, according to a state audit of 2024.
He The audit found California spent $ 24 billion To address the lack of housing in the previous five years, but did not constantly track if the great disbursement of public money actually improved the situation.
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Associated Press Christopher Weber and Michael R. Blood writers in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
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An earlier version of this report said incorrectly, California constitutes almost a third of homeless people in the United States, instead of a quarter.
