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California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday had a message for local governments: clean up homeless encampments now or lose out on state funding next year.<\/p>\n
Standing in front of a cleared homeless encampment in Los Angeles, Newsom vowed to start taking state funding away from cities and counties that are not doing enough to move people out of encampments and into shelter. The governor joined the California Department of Transportation, known as Caltrans, on Thursday to clear several encampment sites in the area.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to see results,\u201d Newsom told reporters at a news conference. \u201cI don\u2019t want to read about them. I don\u2019t want to see the data. I want to see it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thursday\u2019s announcement was part of Newsom\u2019s escalating campaign to push local governments into doing more homeless encampment sweeps. Newsom last month\u00a0ordered state agencies<\/a>\u00a0to start clearing encampments on state land. He also pressured local government to do the same, though he cannot legally force them to act.<\/p>\n The executive order came after the U.S. Supreme Court\u00a0overturned<\/a>\u00a0a lower court ruling that said governments could not force people to leave encampments if there weren\u2019t any shelter beds available. Newsom\u2019s administration\u00a0wrote in support<\/a>\u00a0of cities\u2019 arguments that previous rulings, including one that\u00a0barred San Francisco from clearing encampments<\/a>, have\u00a0prevented the state from solving a critical problem<\/a>.<\/p>\n California is home to roughly\u00a0one-third of the nation\u2019s population of homeless people<\/a>, a problem that has dogged Newsom since he took office. There are thousands of tents and makeshift shelters across the state that line freeways, and fill parking lots and public parks.<\/p>\n The state has spent roughly $24 billion under Newsom\u2019s leadership to clean up streets and house people. That includes at least $3.2 billion in grants given to local government to build shelters, clear encampments and connect homeless people to services as they see fit, Newsom said.<\/p>\n Those have been unprecedented investments from the state, he added, but his administration will start redirecting that money in January.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not about criminalization,\u201d Newsom said. \u201cWhat\u2019s criminal is neglecting people that are struggling and suffering and dying on our watch.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s not the first time Newsom has vowed to cut funding over what he sees as the lackluster efforts from local governments to address homelessness. In 2022, he threatened to\u00a0withhold $1 billion<\/a>\u00a0in homelessness spending from cities and counties over the lack of progress. Last month, his office\u00a0clawed back a $10-million grant<\/a>\u00a0sent to San Diego to build tiny homes because the county didn\u2019t act fast enough.<\/p>\n