Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom is urging voters to approve a ballot initiative that he says is needed to tackle the state’s homelessness crisis, a change social providers say would threaten programs that keep people from becoming homeless in the first place.
In 2004, voters approved legislation that imposed a tax on millionaires to finance mental health services, generating $2 billion to $3 billion in revenue each year that has mostly gone to counties to fund mental health programs as they see fit under broad guidelines.
Newsom wants to give the state more control over how that money is spent. Proposition 1, before voters on the March 5 ballot, would require counties to spend 60% of those funds on housing and programs for homeless people with serious mental illnesses or substance abuse problems.
The single formula would mean rural counties such as Butte, with a homeless population of fewer than 1,300 people, would be required to divert the same percentage of funds to housing as urban counties such as San Francisco, which has a homeless population six times bigger. San Francisco Mayor London Breed said she supports the measure. Butte County officials have expressed concerns.