Brown's last revised California Budget proposal acknowledges homelessness as a longstanding issue, but kicks state housing investment responsibility to future administration

At his final budget press conference, Governor Jerry Brown acknowledged that more needs to be done to address homelessness in California, yet his proposal falls far short in crucial budget investment, and focuses a $359 million allocation to non-permanent solutions. Read summary of revised budget.

An astounding amount of evidence -- both from communities trying to solve homelessness and from data-driven studies -- proves that an affordable apartment is more effective at reducing homelessness than a shelter bed.

That's why Housing California and our housing advocacy partners recommend investing at least $2 billion of the budget surplus (now reported at $8.8 billion) into new housing resources for the most vulnerable populations. We urge our state leaders to commit to the following:

  • Invest at least 50% for capital funding for supportive housing development for chronically homeless Californians and affordable development for low-income Californians through the Multifamily Housing Program (MHP) and to offset decreased value of tax credits due to tax reform.
  • Increase resources to the Housing for a Healthy California Program by at least $200 million to immediately house high-cost homeless Medicaid beneficiaries through rental assistance.
  • Invest $700 million to cities and counties who apply and agree to match State resources for—
    • Rental assistance for housing existing in the private market, and landlord incentives to encourage private market landlords to accept rental assistance.
    • Contributions to flexible housing subsidy pools, which combine resources from county agencies, private health systems, and philanthropy to create supportive housing.
    • Operating subsidies and gap financing, to make publicly-funded housing projects sufficiently affordable for people experiencing homelessness.
    • Capital grants and construction financing for housing affordable to people experiencing homelessness.
    • A restricted amount of funding for interim housing, including emergency shelters, navigation centers, respite care, and motel vouchers.
  • Invest $61 million to the Department of Housing and Community Development to create and coordinate a grant program to address homelessness among youth.
  • Invest in housing for survivors of domestic violence.
  • Fund State collection of data and strengthen local coordinated entry systems.

The governor does suggest that some action must be taken now with his proposal to place the $2 billion No Place Like Home (NPLH) initiative in front of voters in November. In 2016, Housing California and the Residents United Network helped shape and advocated strongly for the passage of NPLH in the legislature, pushing for an innovative solution to fund permanent supportive homes for people who have experienced chronic homelessness and have a mental illness. NPLH would be an additional way to invest capital alongside the $4 billion Veterans and Affordable Housing Act, rounding out the voter ask to $6 billion to build affordable housing for veterans, struggling families, people experiencing homelessness, and people with disabilities, and for permanent supportive housing with services specifically for Californians who are chronically homeless (people experiencing chronic homelessness have a disability and have been sheltered or unsheltered for at least 12 months or at least four times in the last three years, where the combined occasions total 12 months).

Watch for an Action Alert and a Capitol Reporter next week to help support our budget request and learn more about the latest bills and budget asks.

 

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