Accountability for homeless spending + Prop 22 poll + Lara endorsement + Cannabis law

Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!

ACCOUNTABILITY FOR HOMELESSNESS PROGRAMS?

Via Lara Korte...

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed three bills on Wednesday with hopes of chipping away at the homelessness crisis.

The main weapon? Accountability.

California has dozens of programs aimed at helping homeless residents. The problem, as outlined by a state audit in February, is that the state provides those services in an “uncoordinated” way.

Homelessness services come through at least nine state agencies that administer 41 different programs, auditor Elaine M. Howle wrote in the report. Howle also criticized the state for failing to track funds and for a lack of complete data, which makes it difficult to assess the effectiveness of homelessness programs.

Assembly Bills 1220 and 977, authored by Assemblywoman Luz Rivas and Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel, respectively, will establish protocols that allow the state to track homelessness programs, assess their effectiveness, and take action if needed.

(Newsom also signed Assembly Bill 27, also authored by Rivas, which requires schools to identify homeless students in order to better connect them with resources and support).

AB 1220 changes the name of the Homelessness Coordination and Financing Council to the California Interagency Council on Homelessness. The council will now be chaired by Lourdes Castro Ramírez, the secretary of the Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency, and Dr. Mark Ghaly, secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency.

AB 1220 requires the council to review and approve of local plans to combat homelessness in order for local jurisdiction to receive funding. The council will also look to see the plans meet a series of metrics.

Those jurisdictions that produce results will receive bonuses, Newsom said.

AB 977 aims to create enhanced accountability and transparency by creating a system of uniform reporting requirements across several state-funded homelessness programs

Newsom praised the bills as part of a larger focus on housing. He acknowledged that homelessness is one of the issues that angers Californians the most, and said he expects to see results in light of the new laws.

“I don’t want to over-promise how quickly we will see the progress,” he said. “But I don’t want to under promise how significant the efforts that we are now engaged in are.”

PROP 22 SURVEY

Three out of four app-based rideshare drivers prefer being categorized as independent contractors, according to a new survey released by EMC Research, with driver lists provided by Protect App-Based Drivers and Services.

The survey of 1,508 drivers from Uber, Lyft, Instacart and DoorDash took place between Sept. 1 and Sept. 8, and was conducted online in both English and Spanish.

The survey comes following an Alameda County judge’s ruling that Proposition 22 — ensuring app-based drivers remain independent contractors after they were reclassified by AB 5 — was unconstitutional. The California Attorney General’s Office has appealed that ruling.

According to the survey, 78% of drivers are at least somewhat familiar with Prop. 22. Of those who are familiar with the proposition, 74% said that they supported it, according to the survey findings. Meanwhile, 88% of drivers said that the ballot measure has been good for them, while 84% said that they would recommend voters in other states to pass similar laws.

In response to the judge’s decision, 77% said that they were at least somewhat concerned about the law being invalidated, with just 20% saying they would continue to drive for a rideshare or food delivery app if the law were to be overturned.

LATINO VICTORY FUND STEPS IN FOR LARA

Latino Victory Fund, a progressive political action committee in Washington, is endorsing Ricardo Lara’s re-election as the state’s insurance commissioner.

The endorsement comes nearly a week after Assemblymember Marc Levine, D-San Rafael, announced he was running against Lara for the position. Primary elections will occur June 7 of next year.

“We are thrilled to support Ricardo once again in his bid for insurance commissioner. Ricardo is a seasoned public servant and a well-rounded leader committed to improving the lives of Californians, said Nathalie Rayes, the group’s president and CEO, in a statement.

The D.C.-based organization aims to increase Latino representation in public office. In 2019, Lara became the first Latino insurance commissioner in California.

NEWSOM SIGNS END-OF-LIFE CANNABIS BILL

Dying Californians can now access medical cannabis at health care facilities, under a new bill signed into law by Gov. Newsom.

SB 311, also known as “Ryan’s Law,” requires health care facilities allow terminally ill patients access to medical cannabis, though not to smoke or vape, and also requires those facilities to “reasonably restrict” the manner in which a patient stores and uses medical cannabis to ensure the safety of other people in the facility, according to the office of bill author Sen. Ben Hueso, D-San Diego.

“It is inconceivable to me that, in a state where medical cannabis was legalized more than 25 years ago, those in deepest suffering receiving treatment in our state’s healthcare facilities cannot access this proven, effective, and prescribed treatment,” Hueso said in a statement. “Instead, terminally-ill patients in California healthcare facilities are given heavy opiates that rob them of their precious last moments with family and friends. This is a simple, yet critical, move that will provide relief, compassion and dignity to terminally-ill Californians.”

SB 311 survived where a similar bill in 2019 did not.

Newsom vetoed the previous bill because he feared that health care facilities could lose access to federal funding if he had signed it into law. Since then, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has said that it does not address the use of medical cannabis and is unaware of any provider losing funding or being penalized for permitting the use of medical cannabis.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“David Chiu has the vision, integrity, and experience, and I know he will continue to fight for the people in our community who are most in need. I am confident that the City Attorney’s Office will be in good hands for years to come.”

- San Francisco Mayor London Breed, via Twitter.

Best of the Bee:

• A group of animal rights activists on Wednesday locked themselves together outside the front gates of California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s home in Fair Oaks as part of a protest aimed at stopping the expansion of what they call “factory farms,” via Rosalio Ahumada.

• The California Democrat who wrote a statewide rent cap and championed tenant protections during the coronavirus pandemic is leaving the Assembly to become San Francisco’s city attorney, via Hannah Wiley.

• Long lines at polling centers can now be a thing of the past, as residents in California will have their ballots mailed to them for all elections starting next year, via Hanh Truong.