Gavin Newsom has made a lot of promises to Californians. What has he delivered?

One of Newsom’s most ambitious gubernatorial campaign promises was to “lead the effort to build 3.5 million new homes by 2025.”

What he’s accomplished: The governor has taken strong stances in his efforts to get there and to crack down on local agencies that may be standing in his way.

Last year, Newsom signed 31 housing bills, including Senate Bill 9, a historic measure essentially abolishing single-family zoning restrictions across the state.

Newsom has also taken an aggressive posture in enforcing state housing laws. He has created a Housing Accountability Unit at the California Department of Housing and Community Development and his administration has launched lawsuits and investigations into municipalities for allegedly flouting state housing regulations, including a first-of-its-kind review of San Francisco’s notoriously complicated development process.

What he hasn’t: California will fall far short of his 2025 target. During Newsom’s first three years in office, the state issued about 362,000 building permits for new housing – or approximately 120,000 units a year, according to data from the California Department of Housing and Community Development. At that rate, it would take nearly 30 years to reach 3.5 million.

Long a proponent of tighter gun control laws, Newsom sponsored a successful ballot initiative while he was lieutenant governor in 2016 to institute background checks for ammunition sales. Shortly after he was elected, he called for “raising the bar” on gun regulation.

What he’s accomplished: He has signed bills setting limits on marketing firearms to minors and giving residents the right to sue manufacturers for the harm their products have caused. Earlier this summer, he unveiled $156 million in gun violence prevention grants for cities and nonprofits.

The Giffords Law Center in 2021 ranked California first in the nation for gun safety, noting that the state’s rate of deaths from firearms was 37% below the national average.

What he hasn’t: His proposal to strengthen the state’s concealed carry law failed to clear the legislature in the final hours of this year’s session. It was intended to bar people from carrying guns into places like courts, hospitals, airports, public parks, libraries and churches. It also would have required local licensing agencies, typically sheriffs’ departments, to ensure a person was a “qualified” applicant — those 21 years old or older who had received at least 16 hours of training.

Newsom vowed to create universal access to health care in California, regardless of ability to pay, pre-existing conditions, or immigration status.. But he also went a step further, endorsing a single-payer system that would replace private-sector medical insurance plans with a government-run program.

What he’s accomplished: Under a budget deal struck with lawmakers earlier this year, California will become the first state in the nation to make all residents — regardless of age or immigration status — eligible for state-subsidized health insurance under Medi-Cal. The final expansion of Medi-Cal, slated to take effect no later than Jan. 1, 2024, will grant Golden State residents universal access to health care.

What he hasn’t: While the expanded coverage will achieve the goal of universal health care, it falls short of creating a single-payer system in which California would collect the money for health care, mainly in the form of taxes, and reimburse providers for the costs. A single-payer bill died earlier this year in the California Assembly – amid unanswered questions about the implementation and cost of such a complex and groundbreaking venture. Newsom’s team has said that the transition to a single-payer system would require more support from the federal government, which the governor has been advocating for.

What he’s accomplished: Newsom vowed to eradicate chronic homelessness and he has used the state’s unprecedented surpluses to pour money into a pervasive problem that polls show remains a top concern for Californians. He’s allocated $15 billion over last two years toward addressing the crisis.

Some of that funding has been used to increase the number of shelter beds in California and create programs like Homekey and Roomkey, which helped the state put a roof over the heads of tens of thousands of unhoused residents during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trying a new approach, Newsom earlier this month signed into law his plan to compel residents struggling with mental health and addiction into court-ordered treatment.

While CARE Court is also open to those who have housing, Newsom has framed it as an innovative tool to treat the most vulnerable unhoused residents. The program will be phased in beginning in October 2023, so it remains to be seen how much impact it will have.

What he hasn’t: Despite the unprecedented outlay, the situation looks worse than it did four years ago. The number of Californians living on the streets, in shelters or in cars has grown from about 130,000 in 2018 to more than 161,000 in 2020, according to the most recent data available from the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness.

A 2021 report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development found that more than 70% of California’s unhoused residents lack shelter. Nationally, California has one of the highest rates of chronic homelessness among sheltered individuals.

What he’s accomplished: California has historically negotiated discounts with prescription drug manufacturers for its state-run hospitals and jails. A 2019 executive order from Newsom allows counties to take advantage as well. Sacramento County reported saving nearly $700,000 on drugs for its jails in a little over a year.

In 2020, Newsom signed a bill to create a generic drug brand for the state, Cal Rx, and require California to manufacture the drugs or partner with pharmaceutical companies to make it happen. Most recently, Newsom unveiled a plan to make low-cost insulin. No contracts have been signed yet, but state officials say they are getting close to a deal.

What he hasn’t: His most ambitious plans have yet to materialize.

Prescription drug costs rose by 5.0% during Newsom’s first year in office, according to the most recent state data. Analysts anticipate that costs will continue to rise. Policies and programs he’s introduced haven’t produced the hundreds of millions — if not billions — of in savings he promised. Medi-Cal Rx just took effect in January, so it may take a few years to understand its effects on the market.

Newsom’s gubernatorial platform outlined ambitious climate commitments, such as creating a clear path to 100% renewable energy, diversifying energy supply, reaching zero diesel pollution by 2030 and tighter regulations on fracking.

What he has accomplished: Newsom has made it a priority to procure more renewable energy and push policies that make the transition easier. Over the past two years, California has grown its battery storage capacity by tenfold, according to figures from the governor’s office.

On a number of brief occasions this year, California ran its entire grid on nearly 100% clean energy — an indication to environmentalists that California is on the right track.

Earlier this month, Newsom signed a sweeping package of climate legislation. The new regulations, in part, codify the state’s existing goal of carbon neutrality by 2045, establish setbacks between oil wells and homes or businesses and create clean electricity targets of 90% by 2035. That followed an announcement that California would end the sale of most new gas-powered vehicles by 2035.

What he hasn’t: Newsom’s promise to reach zero diesel pollution by 2030 is not on track. The California Air Resources Board is currently considering a proposal to ban the sale of new big rigs and other medium- and heavy-duty trucks that run on diesel, but that regulation — if enacted — sets a deadline of 2040.

His 2018 campaign website laid out a detailed plan to eradicate child poverty. Proposals included universal access to prekindergarten, college savings accounts for every incoming kindergartener, expanded family leave and access to higher education.

What he’s accomplished: Last year, Newsom championed a law that will provide every 4-year-old in the state with access to transitional kindergarten by the 2025-26 school year. He also led creation of a new college saving account dubbed CalKIDS. The program provides up to $1,500 to millions of low-income students, English learners, foster and homeless youth. All children born in California after July 1, 2022 receive a $25 deposit in a college savings account.

In 2019, Newsom expanded California’s paid family leave from six to eight weeks for each parent or caregiver of a newborn child. The following year, he signed a law requiring employers with more than five employees to grant up to 12 weeks of leave to care for a baby and guarantee their job or a comparable position when they return.

What he hasn’t: His stated goal of “eliminating child poverty” may be too ambitious to ever truly achieve. Still, the number of children living in poverty in California has declined since he took office. According to data from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the number of California children living below the federal poverty level dropped from 1.54 million in 2018 to 1.36 million in 2021 — or a decline of about 1%. That aligns with the national average following an expansion of the federal child tax credit during the COVID-19 pandemic.

What he’s accomplished: Almost a year before Roe vs. Wade was overturned, Newsom asked Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California and other reproductive rights advocates to create a plan to make California a sanctuary for anyone barred from getting an abortion in another state.

When the constitutional right to an abortion was officially overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in June, Newsom signed legislation and an executive order to protect women coming to California seeking abortions. His order prohibits state agencies or departments from sharing any medical records or patient data with other states or individuals seeking to restrict access to abortion.

This year, California lawmakers passed more than a dozen bills aimed at protecting the right to abortion. The measures would bar coroner investigations following the death of a fetus; make it easier for nurse practitioners to provide abortions, and set aside $20 million to help cover travel, lodging, child care and other expenses for women traveling to the state. Newsom is expected to sign many of those bills into law this month.

What he hasn’t: Newsom on Thursday vetoed AB 2320, which would have required the state to establish and administer a five-county pilot program to fund primary care clinic activities that provide reproductive health care and abortion. In his veto message, Newsom cited budget restraints and $200 million already earmarked for other measures to protect the right to abortion.

In taking a more proactive approach to planning and prevention, Newsom also last year signed two new laws to promote prescribed burns — intentionally using flames to clear in advance dry and dead vegetation that could otherwise propel wildfires.

What he hasn’t: Newsom has laid out ambitious wildfire response proposals, but a report from the state’s Legislative Analyst’s Office earlier this year noted that some of them have lacked the necessary clarity. Without a strategic plan, the report concluded that it was “difficult to assess if the proposals are optimal.”

Additionally, the governor has oversold the success of his prevention initiatives in the past. A 2021 investigation by Capitol Public Radio revealed that Newsom significantly overstated the number of acres across California treated with fuel break and prescribed burns and that Cal Fire grossly fell short of its fuel reduction goals in 2020.

In May 2021, when Newsom unveiled his $100 billion California Comeback Plan — the biggest economic recovery package in state history — he vowed that economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic would “leave nobody behind.”

What he’s accomplished: In August, California was short about 133,000 jobs from recouping job losses from the pandemic recession, reaching 18.5 million jobs for the first time since February 2020. In July, the state’s unemployment rate dropped to 3.9% — the record-low level achieved just before the pandemic. But California’s unemployment rate inched back up to 4.1% the following month, according to state and federal data.

Thanks to a hefty budget surplus and an influx of federal funding, the governor was able to pour billions into the state’s pandemic relief efforts. That relief came in the form of stimulus checks, rent and utility payment assistance, small business grants and college savings accounts for low-income students.

What he hasn’t: Despite economic improvements since the early pandemic plunge, California’s unemployment rate still ranks 38th in the nation, behind states like Florida and tying with Texas — both states that the governor has enjoyed ridiculing in recent months.

As for students, the extended closure of in-person classes appears to have disproportionately harmed certain children. A study from the Oakland-based organization Children Now found that English learners, low-income students and children of color lost significantly more ground academically in math and English studies than their white and Asian peers.