The bill would have delayed any indictment on that count for 72 hours after first notice and imposed a “state-mandated local program” for homeless individuals in those situations.
“The number of unsheltered homeless increased by 13.83% during the Newsom Administration (2019-2023), compared to an increase of 51.79% in the five-year period prior to the administration (2015-2019),” the post read.
State Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones criticized Newsom, calling the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s year-end Homelessness Assessment Report an indictment of his capabilities.
“As the Governor has said many times, the work is far from over and urgency and results at the local level are needed more than ever. It’s why new accountability tools have been put in place, for quicker results. It’s also a longer-term effort — through implementation of Prop 1, CARE Court, conservatorship reform, the just approved BH-Connect waiver all of which are aimed at addressing the systemic issues of homelessness but not yet fully online.”
“People have to see and feel the progress and the change…” Newsom said, according to the column.
In a separate statement, Newsom said no American should be without a place to call home:
“The audit showed that previously not all state programs required locals to report how those dollars improved homelessness for the most recent years and lacked data to compare the effectiveness of one program versus another. That’s been fixed.
The CalMatters op-ed claimed Newsom’s handling of the homelessness crisis will be a key point of attack for his prospective 2028 Democratic presidential primary challengers if he chooses to seek higher office then.
California Republican leaders appeared to mock Gov. Gavin Newsom’s fiery response to a critical analysis of his handling of the Golden State’s homelessness crisis, saying that any increase in homelessness is not admirable.
Data also showed other large-population states like New York, Florida, Illinois and Texas also suffered a higher growth in unsheltered homelessness than California’s, which the governor’s office said was under one percent.
The report also cited that Illinois, Wyoming, Hawaii and Colorado were the states where family homelessness doubled or worse.
“Given the sheer population size of California, to talk about homelessness without any of the broader context or how this administration’s efforts compare to the prior is a disservice to Californians, plain and simple,” Newsom’s office’s account wrote on X.
“Homelessness continues to rise and increase at ever-higher numbers nationwide, but we are seeing signs of progress in California,” he said.
“Since the governor is committed to gaslighting on this issue, we’ll state the obvious: an increase of 20% is not progress,” their statement read.
“Gavin Newsom literally lost track of the $27 billion he spent on the homeless crisis,” Jones said, citing the report as listing California first in homelessness, with an increase of 3% to 187,000.