Newsom’s $4.7 billion mental health overhaul found lacking by legislative analysts

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

MENTAL HEALTH PLAN LACKS RATIONALE, ANALYSTS SAY

Via Maggie Angst...

The California Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) is raising concerns about the $4.7 billion mental health plan that Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to place before voters next March as a bond issue.

The office, which advises the Legislature on policy and fiscal matters, said in a series of reports last week that the proposal could actually jeopardize some ongoing mental health services.

The bills need support from two-thirds of lawmakers.

Newsom’s plan would add up to 10,000 behavioral health beds and overhaul the state’s Mental Health Services Act. Passed by California voters in 2004 as Proposition 63, MHSA levies a 1% tax on personal incomes above $1 million to fund programs and services for Californians with serious mental health issues.

The vast majority of MHSA funding goes directly to counties to use as they see fit. Newsom’s proposal would require counties to move funds from prevention efforts into housing and to reduce the amount of cash jurisdictions are allowed to keep in reserve.

The office said that the proposed changes to MHSA would reduce funding for certain programs and could “discourage ongoing spending commitments that may help counties provide more consistent and successful mental health services.”

“We find that the administration’s justification of its proposed changes is incomplete,” a report from the LAO reads, adding that the Newsom Administration has not assessed how such changes may negatively impact current services.

“For example, while the administration cites the shortfall in psychiatric treatment beds as a primary justification for the focus on housing interventions, the administration has not provided the rationale for using MHSA — given the trade-offs — to address this and other issues,” the report continues.

The LAO is recommending the state legislature demand answers and hold the Newsom Administration accountable before approving the pair of bills that would form the March 2024 ballot measure.

PORTER TOPS POLL FOR CALIFORNIA SENATE RACE

Rep. Katie Porter, D-Orange County, narrowly leads the wide open race for California’s Senate seat, a new poll reported Friday.

Of the 1,092 likely voters surveyed by the Public Policy Institute of California,

• 19% ranked Porter as their top choice

• 16% ranked Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Los Angeles

• 13% ranked Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland

• 7% ranked Republican Eric Early

The results align with a May Berkeley poll that also found Porter eeking out a slight lead.

There are still eight months until the March 2024 Democratic primary for the Senate seat currently occupied by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who has held the seat for three decades.

The race is gearing up to be tight and cash-flush. Last quarter, Schiff’s campaign raised $8.1 million, Porter’s $3.2 million and Lee’s $1 million.

In a PPIC poll on the race for the White House, 50% of likely Republican voters said they support former President Donald Trump.

David Lightman reports on the details of the poll results.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“After a full day of arguing against DEI training in the military, a Republican just referred to African American servicemembers as ‘colored’ on the House floor.

Imagine what gets said behind closed doors,” wrote Rep. Barbara Lee in a tweet on Friday.

Best of The Bee:

• The Shasta dam started to leak at the end of May after the snowpack from the wet winter started melting. To Californians who have suffered decades of drought, that was good news, via Gillian Brassil.

• California has now officially banned state-funded travel to more than half of the country — even as a top Democratic leader is trying to put an end to the prohibition, via Lindsey Holden and Maggie Angst.
• As Gov. Gavin Newsom attempts to rally support for the $4.7 billion mental health plan he wants to place before voters next year, the California Analyst’s Office is raising concerns that the proposal could actually jeopardize some ongoing mental health services, via Maggie Angst.
• The Biden administration will forgive $39 billion in federal student loans, the U.S. Education Secretary said Friday, for more than 804,000 borrowers, via Gillian Brassil.