Gov. Newsom Vetoes Recovery Housing for Drug Addicts to Preserve ‘Housing First’ Grift

Assemblyman Matt Haney’s (D-San Francisco) legislation create more drug-free housing options for people recovering from drug addiction passed both houses of the Legislature. The bill passed the Senate with an overwhelming bipartisan 39-0 vote, and the Assembly 79-0. 

However, California Governor Gavin Newsom just vetoed the bill claiming that “current law already permits local jurisdictions to receive funding within the Housing First framework.” Newsom also claimed Haney’s bill would have been a “duplicative and costly new statutory category.”  The failed “Housing First” program does not prioritize “recovery housing,” or sober living programs, which is the only way homeless drug addicts will ever recover.

“Housing first” advocates continue to insist the hundreds of thousands of drug addicts living on California streets, parks, beaches, rivers and golf courses would not be there if they could afford housing, even calling the mentally-ill, drug-addicted homeless the “unhoused.”

“The bill takes aim at a major flaw in the state’s “Housing First” policy, which was adopted in 2016 to lower barriers to housing,” Haney said. “That model prohibits programs receiving state funds from requiring sobriety—even for people who want to live in a clean and sober environment.”

“With fentanyl and other deadly drugs taking lives every day, we can’t ignore the needs of people who are ready to get clean and stay clean,” said Haney. “We should be supporting recovery, not standing in the way of it.”

“Housing First” hasn’t worked at all for the homeless drug addicts, but has worked beautifully for developers and contractors chosen to remodel and renovate motels and hotels, build low-income apartments and tiny homes – all of which are destroyed by the drug addicts who aren’t required to participate in a recovery program. Only triage and treatment will lead to recovery.

The city of Los Angeles spends nearly $1 million per homeless drug addict via NGO/Non-profit that they try to get off the streets. But the incentives are perverse – they want to serve more homeless people to increase their business, so they never implement actual programs that would lead to recovery for the addict.

This is their business model. Governor Newsom knows this. As we have all witnessed in California, the more money spent on “homelessness” the more drug-addicted homeless vagrants we attract. The more we complain about the homeless drug addicts living in our neighborhoods, the more money is spent on it.

If Newsom actually adopted a recovery model for homelessness, the spigot of funding would diminish.

“Turning a blind eye to their conditions by instead placing them in a home without support to address their underlying needs is the antithesis of compassion,” said Michele Steeb, Senior Fellow Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) who oversees TPPF’s initiative to transform United States’ and Texas’ homelessness policy. That was in 2021 when Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) introduced legislation to reform the failed Housing First policy, which Steeb supported.

The “Housing First” plan, was first implemented in 2013 by the Obama administration as a one-size-fits-all solution to homelessness, but there never was evidence it would work.  They promised it would end homelessness in a decade, Michelle Steeb and Rep. Roger Williams wrote at The Hill in 2021. “Under the Housing First rule, homelessness rose by 16 percent.”

And it is worse today, with California home to the bulk of the country’s homeless drug addicts.

Gov. Newsom has spent $37 billion on homelessness since 2019, according to the California Legislative Analyst’s Office.

The LAO report reveals significant issues with tracking spending, evaluating program effectiveness, and says that most of the money has gone to housing first:

“The state has provided about $37 billion in funding for housing- and homelessness-related programs. The majority of this funding—which includes the state General Fund, special funds, voter-approved bonds, and certain federal funds—has been allocated to the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) and Cal ICH. Broadly, state funds have been designated to support the creation of affordable housing and to provide services to people at risk of, or experiencing, homelessness.”

Mental Health America of California supported Haney’s AB 255, and explained why in a support letter to Assemblyman Haney:

For individuals in recovery who secure permanent supportive housing, many prefer the option of living in a drug and alcohol-free environment. Under the current Housing First model, state-funded housing programs cannot deny housing solely based on drug or alcohol use unless other violations occur. This bill would authorize up to 25% of a county’s total permanent supportive housing inventory to offer a drug- and alcohol-free environment for those who voluntarily choose it. If participation in a supportive recovery residence remains a voluntary choice and is not the individual’s only available housing option, this bill would align with the Housing First model and supports MHAC mission to increase access to essential supports and services.

By respecting an individual’s right to self-determination in choosing the housing environment that best supports their recovery journey, this bill promotes a person-centered approach to care.

Be sure to thank Governor Newsom for once again propping up the grift, rather than supporting a solution.