SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Governor Gavin Newsom spent a majority of his 2020 State of the State address on Wednesday talking about the ever-growing issue of housing and homelessness in California.
There are an estimated 150,000 people experiencing homelessess across California, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Newsom, as he has in the past, called on California's lawmakers to take urgent and immediate action to tackle the growing problem.
Newsom spent the first seven minutes of his speech touting California's strong economy including months of job growth. He touted new California programs that offer free community college, tax-free tampons and diapers, and tax credits for families, to name a few.
"But no amount of progress can camouflage the most pernicious crisis in our midst, the ultimate manifestation of poverty: homelessness," Newsom said.
Newsom announced immediate emergency actions that are being taken to address the issue. Last month, Newsom used executive action to deploy emergency mobile housing trailers and services for homeless families and seniors.
He said the first trailers were deployed to the Oakland and Los Angeles County. Others will be sent to the cities of Stockton and Santa Clara, as well as Riverside, Contra Costa and Sonoma counties.
Newsom called for reform to the Mental Health Services Act and MediCal. He also asked the state legislature to remove the red tape that would make it easier to build housing units for the homeless across the state.
He said wants lawmakers to approve a $650 million fund to invest in housing and services for the homeless.
Among other things, Newsom is proposing a system of strict accountability and comprehensive audits for agencies who use state funds, saying he wants governments to take action or risk losing the funding.
"As Californians, we pride ourselves on our unwavering sense of compassion and justice for humankind — but there's nothing compassionate about allowing fellow Californians to live on the streets, huddled in cars or makeshift encampments," Newsom said.
Assemblymember Jim Cooper (D – Elk Grove) said he would like to know more about how the Governor plans to address mental health and substance abuse.
"Those are two big issues, because to get those folks out there and really are most gravely disabled folks," Cooper said.
Assemblymember Kevin Kiley (R – Rocklin) was critical that the Governor did not address how he plans to turn the state's greatest issues around.
"What struck me was the first thing the governor said was that California leads the nation by almost every metric," Kiley said. "And in many ways that's true, you know. We lead the nation in poverty, in homelessness, and the cost of energy, the costs of housing, the overall cost of living, the restrictions on working professionals, and frankly lost opportunity."
While many lawmakers applauded Newsom for making the issue of homelessness a focal point, others were critical that he did not touch on other big issues facing the state like climate change and how the state plans to regulate California utilities.
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