Gavin Newsom called for a homelessness accountability bill. But he isn’t supporting one yet

Last month, Gov. Gavin Newsom demanded results from California cities receiving state homelessness funds.

During his budget presentation, the governor said lawmakers were “lighting (him) up” to author legislation aligning state and local homelessness goals and setting criteria to measure the progress of programs addressing the state’s unhoused population.

But as the Friday bill introduction deadline loomed, Newsom has yet to champion the kind of measure he pushed.

On Thursday, he declined to take a position on a bill introduced by Assemblywoman Luz Rivas, D-San Fernando Valley, creating an accountability framework for cities, counties and organizations receiving state Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) funds.

Under the bill, introduced Monday, those that fail to meet a certain portion of their goals could lose funding to another entity in the same region.

Newsom, meeting with reporters after a school tour in Sacramento, said he “tends to be careful and cautious about bills (he) hasn’t read.”

Newsom seeks homelessness results

The governor has grown increasingly indignant about the amount of money California has spent to address homelessness, even as the problem has grown on his watch.

The state’s homeless population surged by 10,000 from 2020 to 2022, growing to 171,521, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Newsom’s administration has overseen the distribution of billions of dollars in multiple rounds of HHAP grants since 2019. But local agencies that receive them have been frustrated by the one-time nature of the funding, which makes it challenging to plan and sustain programs.

Recent rounds of HHAP grants have required recipients to produce action plans showing how they intend to use the funds in coordination with local governments and nonprofits to reduce the unhoused population.

The governor has been pushing for more action on homelessness funding accountability since November, when he temporarily froze $1 billion in HHAP funds and said the local plans he received were not ambitious enough.

During his January budget presentation, Newsom said he needs to see progress from localities, or he would be “hard-pressed to make a case to the Legislature to provide them $1 more.”

In spite of a projected $22.5 billion budget deficit, Newsom’s spending plan does provide an additional $1 billion for a fifth round of HHAP funding. But he wants to see a bill coordinating state and local efforts.

“It’s criteria, and it’s conditioned, absolutely, on aligning our goals,” Newsom said of the legislation he is seeking. “What we don’t want is 476 different strategies and goals, and that doesn’t even include all the (continuum of care programs) and counties, just every city running in different directions.”

Rivas homeless accountability bill

Rivas’s measure, Assembly Bill 799, would establish a goal-setting framework to coordinate with local grant recipients. It would take effect with the fifth round of HHAP grants and apply to all future awards.

The goals could include reducing the number of unhoused people, those becoming homeless for the first time and those returning to homelessness after reaching permanent housing. The plans could also work to increase the number of homeless people being housed, and eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in the unhoused population.

Those who receive state funds would need to meet at least half of those goals during a three-year period. Recipients that don’t could be put on a corrective action plan and have the money given to another, more successful group in the same region.

“State funding plays a critical role in the fight against homelessness,” Rivas said during a bill introduction news conference. “However, funding alone will not solve homelessness. The lack of accountability and inconsistent funding has caused a public policy feedback loop resulting in homelessness response systems that are unable to meet the challenges of rising housing costs and insufficient affordable housing availability.”

Mari Castaldi of Housing California said at the news conference members of the Bring California Home Coalition, a group of nonprofits and cities, wants to see the state invest $3 billion in HHAP grants annually to provide an ongoing funding stream.

Even so, both Rivas and Castaldi acknowledged they face a tough fiscal year, and they still need to work with legislative budget leaders to hammer things out.

Newsom on Thursday did not give any indication whether he would back Rivas’s bill or another accountability plan.

The governor said he is “proud that the Legislature has taken not only the issue to heart, but they’ve taken efforts to codify some of the work we’ve been doing with the mayors, particularly the big 13 mayors.”

“That the Legislature was critical in establishing the framework of accountability with the plans themselves is an indication of their commitment to see these dollars produce better results, as well,” Newsom said. “So we’re looking forward to working with those members and I’m very enthusiastic about the fact that they have introduced legislation.”

This story was originally published February 17, 2023 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Gavin Newsom called for a homelessness accountability bill. But he isn’t supporting one yet."