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By Aliss Higham
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California governor Gavin Newsom has been criticized over comments made regarding his state being a "national model for homelessness."
Newsom, a Democrat, has come under fire after he announced that $3.3 billion would become available to help California counties implement strategies to counter the state's homelessness crisis. Critics have taken issue with the governor claiming veteran homelessness has declined and that the state has become an example other states should follow.
Standing in front of a podium with the words "treatments not tents" branded on the front, Newsom said on Tuesday: "We have a national model. What Proposition 1 did is that it reinforced that model, provided more resources to advance that model, and we're very excited to get those dollars to work."
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Proposition 1, also known as Prop. 1, is Newsom's mental health initiative that was put to voters in March, passing by a paper-thin margin of 50.2 to 49.8 percent.
Prop. 1's aim is to widen access to behavioral and substance abuse health treatment programs, and provide housing for veterans and individuals at risk of or experiencing homelessness. It will impose strict rules on counties to provide the necessary services.
In the clip, posted online by X, formerly Twitter, user Clown World, Newsom also said the state has "seen a decline in veterans homelessness." Newsweek has been unable to verify this claim and has contacted Governor Newsom for clarification via the contact form on his website.
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The post was accompanied by a caption reading: "this mfer is either delusional or insane." Others also chimed in, with one user writing: "California is the national model to advocate homelessness."
"Five years ago there was no homeless strategies, no homeless plans, period, full stop," Newsom said in a separate clip posted by X user Kevin Dalton, who said the governor was a "dude claiming to have the solution to homelessness for 20+ years." Newsom was elected five years ago in 2019, with one of his key campaigning messages being to help California's itinerant population.
X users were quick to point this out. "So when he was elected on the promise to solve homelessness, he was just kidding?" user Tanya Berlaga wrote.
When Prop. 1 was passed by California voters, Newsom's fellow lawmakers lauded the success as a "historic moment" in the fight against homelessness. Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, the original author of the Mental Health Services Act, said*:* "Twenty years ago, I never could have dreamed that we would have the strong leadership we have today, committing billions and making courageous policy changes that question the conventional wisdom on mental health."
Newsom has already spent billions on attempting to tackle the unhoused crisis since being elected. In the five years he has been in office, the state has spent $24 billion to tackle homelessness according to an audit conducted by California's legislative analyst's office.
According to the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) homelessness may have increased in the state by as much as 7.5 percent between 2022 and 2023. Some 180,000 people were experiencing homelessness in the Golden State in December 2023.
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