California Gov. Newsom unveils $1 billion homelessness plan

KARAH RUCKER: CALIFORNIA’S GOVERNOR GAVIN NEWSOM IS READY TO SPEND ANOTHER ONE BILLION TO COMBAT HOMELESSNESS IN CALIFORNIA. HE PREDICTS THE STATE’S HOMELESS POPULATION WILL DECREASE BY 15 PERCENT BY 2025 UNDER THE NEW PLAN.

WHILE HE’S ALREADY SPENT MORE THAN 22 BILLION DOLLARS ON THE PROBLEM SINCE 2019 – HE’S HOPING THIS MONEY WILL BE BETTER SPENT BY IMMEDIATELY PROVIDING THE STATE WITH 12 HUNDRED TINY HOMES USING ABOUT $30 MILLION OF THE NEW FUNDING.

THE HOMES WILL BE AROUND 120 SQUARE FEET AND COST A FRACTION OF WHAT IT TAKES TO BUILD PERMANENT HOUSING. THE STATE’S NATIONAL GUARD WILL DELIVER 12 HUNDRED NEW TINY HOMES SPLIT AMONG SACRAMENTO, LOS ANGELES, SAN JOSE, AND SAN DIEGO. THE CITIES WILL DECIDE WHERE TO BUILD THEM.

GAVIN NEWSOM | (D) CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR: “We have laid out a vision, a strategy and a plan, at least another option, in terms of the alternatives to living out in the streets and sidewalks in these extraordinary and horrid conditions. Which so many are struggling and suffering through particularly around this time of year.”

CALIFORNIA IS HOME TO ONE THIRD OF ALL HOMELESS PEOPLE IN THE UNITED STATES. AND DESPITE TENS OF BILLIONS OF DOLLARS FUNNELED IN TO REDUCE THE HOMELESS POPULATION – IT’S CONTINUED TO RISE.

IN 2020, THE NUMBER OF HOMELESS INCREASED BY SIX PERCENT OVERWHELMINGLY OUTPACING THE REST OF THE COUNTRY AT JUST A .4% INCREASE YEAR-OVER-YEAR.

WHICH IS WHY CRITICS OF NEWSOM’S ONE BILLION DOLLAR PLAN SAY CALIFORNIA IS IN NEED OF A NEW APPROACH TO ADDRESS HOMELESSNESS.