Gavin Newsom states he’s not seeing the results he wants from homeless spending. In the May Revise budget, he cut over 25% statewide from the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) program. These funds helped San Jose build nearly 500 interim housing units, a crucial tool to reduce homeless encampments in the city. From Andrew Sheeler in California Political Review.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s May Revise budget proposal offered few winners, and plenty of losers, as he unveiled an austere vision for state finances. Newsom called for slashing more than $32 billion in one-time and ongoing spending, with reductions, cost shifts and delayed spending across a wide variety of state departments and programs.

LOSERS…

Cities that rely on homelessness grants: California has given out billions of dollars in flexible spending grants in recent years for local governments to put toward reducing homelessness.

Mayors of large cities have praised the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention program, or HHAP, and the flexibility it provides to spend money on as needed in their own communities, whether it’s standing up new shelters or placing people in interim housing. City leaders have asked Newsom and lawmakers to dedicate permanent funds to the program. 

Instead, Newsom’s spending plan would cut $260 million from the next round of funding, which was slated to be $1 billion. It does not include funding for HHAP beyond that. “That may not sit well with some, but we’re not seeing the results I want to see,” Newsom said. 

San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, who chairs the Big City Mayors coalition, said “California’s homelessness problem will only get worse” if the program is cut. “If the state wants to reverse the trend of more people falling into homelessness, cutting off funding for programs that are keeping tens of thousands of people indoors and off the streets isn’t the way to do it,” Gloria said.

Read the whole thing here.

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