Newsom wants to use $46 billion surplus to combat homelessness, wildfires and other crisis

San Francisco Chronicle/1-10-22

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed a budget Monday that would use California’s repeat surplus to help combat the thorniest problems facing the Bay Area and the state, from a lack of affordable housing to growing street encampments to organized retail theft.

Newsom proposes spending tens of billions of dollars from its $286.4 billion budget to confront disparities laid bare by the coronavirus pandemic. His plan calls for $2 billion in new funding to provide housing for mentally ill people and to clear homeless encampments. He also proposes $2 billion in grants and tax credits to speed up construction of affordable housing.

“I’m not naive, I see exactly what you see,” Newsom said during a news conference in Sacramento. “And that’s that we need to do more and better because we still have tens of thousands of others struggling and suffering”

All told, he said the state proposes spending about $14 billion to confront the homelessness crisis, including $12 billion in funding that was part of the budget approved last year. He said the plan includes 55,000 new homes and treatment beds.

Link (paywall): https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/Newsom-wants-to-use-California-s-46-billion-16764677.php

Also budgeted:

• “Leaning into conservatorships,” a form of court-ordered treatment for those with mental illness or addiction problems
• Setting aside $9 billion to grow the state’s reserve accounts and pay down its pension debt
• Combating the COVID-19 pandemic; climate change, homelessness, wealth inequality and crime