Gov. Newsom Issues Letter to President to Do More to Solve Homelessness and Housing Insecurity

Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday issued a letter to President Trump and his administration to “do more to address homelessness and housing insecurity,” effectively the President for “significant cuts to housing and supportive services” leading to these problems in California.

Gov. Newsom “and a coalition of California’s elected mayors and county supervisors today called on President Trump and his administration to do more to address homelessness and housing insecurity,” Newsom’s press statement said.

“We can all agree that homelessness is a national crisis decades in the making that demands action at every level of government – local, state, and federal. In California, state and local governments have ramped up action to lift families out of poverty by investing in behavioral health, affordable housing, and other homeless programs,” the letter says. “In contrast, your Administration has proposed significant cuts to public housing and programs like the Community Development Block Grant.”

“Yet in recent days, you have publicly acknowledged the national crisis of homelessness. On behalf of a broad, bipartisan coalition of California’s elected mayors and members of county Board of Supervisors, we invite you to collaborate with us on solutions – tied to federal investments – to address homelessness and housing insecurity,” the letter said.

Senate Republican Leader Shannon Grove shared her response to this:

“California is home to 12% of the nation’s population, yet we have 25 percent of the nation’s homeless,” said Grove (R-Bakersfield). “This is a manufactured crisis created in this state from a one-party rule. I have continually called on Democratic leadership in the state to work with the federal government and local municipalities to solve the homelessness crisis. Consistently suing the Trump Administration will not solve our problems. California needs to stop with the unnecessary confrontation, name-calling, and litigation, and work with D.C. to create real solutions.”

Newsom’s press statement said: “Homelessness and housing insecurity have been a top priority for the Governor. The Governor’s first budget provides $1 billion to help cities and counties fight homelessness, expedited review and approval for navigation centers and emergency shelters to help cities get people off the street faster, and provides $20 million in legal aid to help renters facing eviction. Just last week, the Legislature passed the strongest package of statewide renter protections in the nation – a top priority for Governor Newsom this year. Housing affordability has also been a chief priority for the Governor. The state budget made a historic $1.75 billion investment in new housing and created major incentives – both sticks and carrots – to incentivize cities to approve new home construction.”

The letter – signed by the Governor, mayors of the state’s 13 largest cities, California State Association of Counties and the California League of Cities – asks the federal government to take the following steps immediately to address homelessness in our state.

• Provide 50,000 more vouchers, through a combination of Housing Choice Vouchers and Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) vouchers, two longstanding key programs that provide needed rental subsidies for extremely low-income Americans;
• Increase the value of those vouchers to account for the high cost of rents in America’s cities and counties; and,
• Create a program based on best-practices to incentivize landlords to work with voucher holders to find stable housing.

California’s largest cities are experiencing huge homeless populations with derelict RVs with raw sewage leaking, illegal camps in parks and on streets, human vomit, urine and defecation on city sidewalks and in the doorways of businesses, used needles strewn about, homeless sleeping in doorways and bushes, confrontations, sexual deviancy, and physical attacks. It’s interesting that they signed this letter to the President.

With the current legislation session ending Friday evening, Republicans say it is as important to note:

·        The Democrats did not offer legislation to incentivize the private sector to build more housing, either multi-family or single family.

·        CEQA reform asked for by the Governor was defeated. (SB 384 – Morrell)

·        The Democrats did not do anything to reduce the costs of home constructions, but continually imposed mandates such as the solar mandate law (2018)  and insistence on prevailing wage as part of every housing bill passed.

·        The Democrats asked for incentives for landlords to take Section 8 vouchers, but defeated SB 521 which was a tax incentive bill.

In August, California Globe reported:

“Newsom and his administration tried to cover up a study proving that high government-imposed construction fees are contributing to the housing crisis: ‘In San Francisco, Governor Gavin Newsom to Discuss Housing Affordability with Teachers & Public Safety Professionals:’”

In San Francisco today, Governor Gavin Newsom will meet with Californians who struggle to live near their work.

Housing affordability has been a top priority for the Governor. The state budget signed in June made a historic $1.75 billion investment in new housing and created major incentives – both sticks and carrots – to incentivize cities to approve new home construction. The budget also provided $20 million for legal services for renters facing eviction as well as $1 billion to help cities and counties fight homelessness. 

Additionally, while Newsom is boasting about creating a fund to fight foreclosures and evictions, he actually fought all the way to the state Supreme Court to avoid using that court-ordered money to help homeowners hit hardest by the mortgage crisis. Newsom is only creating that fund now because of a court order.