SAN FRANCISCO – Governor Gavin Newsom signed a housing package on Thursday to combat homelessness across the state.
In his speech in San Francisco, Newsom also announced the release of up to $2.2 billion in HomeKey and permanent assisted living funding—half of which is reserved for veterans—to be made available early through Proposition 1. The HomeKey housing project is expected to create more than 4,000 new permanent housing units for people with mental health and housing challenges.
“No more excuses,” Newsom said. “California is taking action to address decades of homelessness, housing shortages and mental health issues. These new laws — coupled with the state’s unprecedented resources — will create more housing, get people off the streets and provide life-changing support that will benefit all Californians.”
Newsom said the new laws will:
- Empowering cities to provide housing for vulnerable citizens, including the homeless and impoverished.
- Create stricter timelines and requirements for local governments to report on housing progress and clearly inform the public.
- Increase enforcement and penalties for cities and counties that fail to make housing changes or approve housing projects.
- Streamline housing construction by reducing red tape, promoting housing near public transportation, and providing incentives for senior housing, student housing, and accessory dwelling units.
Rep. Bucky Wicks thanked Newsom for signing her bill regarding affordability and siting criteria.
And she talked about her own life and her humble beginnings.
“I don’t come from a good environment,” she said. “I grew up in a trailer.”
When she was little, Wicks said, she was very embarrassed to tell people where she lived, but as she grew older, she realized that the trailer provided her with a safe place to stay.
“That trailer allowed me to go to community college and move up from working class to middle class,” she said. “And that’s an opportunity that not many people have today, especially in our black and brown communities.”
She said she went into politics to ensure that “every young person has that housing security, regardless of what roof over their head they have.”
In 2023, about 181,000 Californians were homeless, and about 90,000 people were living without shelter.
Most people who become homeless are rent-burdened and cite economic hardships such as increased rent or housing costs, Newsom’s office said.
Thursday’s announcement follows Newsom’s recent executive order calling on local governments to address unsanitary and dangerous encampments in their communities and provide the homeless in those encampments with the care and supportive services they need.
Here is a partial list of the bills that have come into force:
- AB 3093 by Assemblyman Chris Ward — Land Use: Residential Element
- AB 1886 by Rep. David Alvarez – Housing Element Law: essential compliance: Housing Accountability Act
- AB 1893 by Representative Buffy Wicks – Housing Accountability Act: Housing denials: required local determinations
- AB 2023 by Representative Sharon Quirk-Silva — Housing Element: Land Stock: Substantial Conformity: Rebuttable Presumptions
- SB 1037 by Senator Scott Wiener – Planning and Zoning: Housing Element: Enforcement
- AB 2243 by Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks – Housing projects: objective standards: affordability and location criteria
