Newsom pitches spending billions in proposed California budget to confront homeless crisis

YEAR. GULSTAN: AND THERE'S THIS, GOVERNOR ALSO PROPOSING SPENDING $2 BILLION TO ADDRESS THE HOMELESSNESS CRISIS IN OUR STE.AT KCRA 3 NEWS'S LYSEE MITRI JOINS US WITH BREAKDOWN OF THE EFFORTS AND REACTION ON THE PLAN. ETH REPORTER: GULSTAN, THE GOVERNOR WANTS TO EXPAND ON WHAT HE SAYS WAS A UNPRECEDENTED INVESTMENT IN THE LAST BUDGET TO TACKLE THE STA'STE HOMELESSNESS CRISIS. GOVERNOR GAVIN NEWSOM -- >> THANK YOU EVERYBODY FOR BEING HERE. THE REPORTER: -- OUTLINED HIS BUDGET PROPOSAL TODAY TO CONFNTRO WHAT HE CALLS CALIFORN'SIA GREATTES EX EXTENSIONAL THREATS. HOMELESSNESS. >> WE STILL HAVE TENS OF THOUSANDS OF OTHERS STRUGGLING AND SUFFERING. THE REPORTER: EXPANDING O A $12 BILLION INVESTMENT IN THE LAST BUDGET, HE'S PROPOSING A ADDITIONAL $2 BILLION IN THE 2022-2023 BUDGET. >> HOW CAN YOU ASSURE PEOPLE THAT THESE FINANALCI INVESTMENTS WILL EXTREMELY RANTS LATE INTO CHANGE THAT THEY'RE GOING TO BE ABLE TO SEE IF TIRHE CITIES AND WHEN CAN THEY EXPECT TO SEE THAT? THE REPORTER: I>> THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA HAD A PNLA WHETHER I GOT HERE. THERE WERE NO INVESTMENT STRATEGIES, TO COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH. >>> THE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE SAYS THE INITIAL $12 BILLION INVESTMENT LAST YEARAS W HISTORIC, MUCH OF IT FOR NEW HOUSING THAT WILL TAKE TWO TO THREE YEARS TO COME ON-LI.NE THE GOVERNOR'S PROPOSAL TODAY INCLUDES INVTIESNG IN MENTAL HEALTH,OU HSING AND SERVICES AND CLRINGEA HOMELESS ENCAMPMENTS. >> BOTTOM LINE, ENCAMPMENTS OUT ON THE STREETS AND SIDEWALKS IS UNACCEPTABLE. IT'S INHUMANE, PEOPLE ARE DYING. I DON'T THINK THIS, I KNOW THIS. THEEP RORTER: WE ALSO SPOKE WITH REPUBLICAN SENATOR JIM NIELSEN ON THE ISSUE TODAY, HE'S THE VICE CHAIR OF THE SENATE BUDGETS COMMITTEE. >> MOSTLY IN THE RECENT YEARS, WHAT WE'VE DONE WITHHE T HOMELESS POPULATION IS KIND OF LIKE ABSTRACT ART, WE MECO IN WITH A BUCKET OF PAINT IN THE ROOM WITH A WHITE WLSAL AND JUST SPLASH THE PAINT ON THE WALL. WE'RE NOT ADDRESSING THE NEEDS ATTH PUT THAT PERSON ON THE STREETS. THE REPORTER: THE GOVERNOR ALSO TOUTED PROJECT ROOM KEY, THAT PROGMRA SECURES ROOMS AND HOTELS AND MOTELS FOR THOSE WHO NEED THEM AND THE GOVERNOR SAYS THAT PROVIDED SHELTER FOR MORE THAN 50,000 CALIFORNIANSHO W WERE LIVING ON THE STREETS DURING THE PANDEMIC. LIVE AT THE STETA CAPITOL, LY

In his 2022-2023 budget proposal for the state of California, Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to expand investments toward addressing the ongoing homeless crisis.Last year, he said, $12 billion was budgeted to help create more housing. His office said much of that will take two to three years to come online. On Monday, the governor proposed putting an additional $2 billion in the next budget toward tackling the problem with the goal of funding mental health housing and services and clearing homeless encampments."I'm not naïve. I see exactly what you see," Newsom said. "I see the need to do more and better because we still have tens of thousands of others struggling and suffering."More Like This | Here’s what’s in Gov. Newsom’s 2022 budget blueprintHe touted Project Roomkey, a pandemic-era program that secures rooms in hotels and motels for those who need them. Newsom said it helped provide shelter to more than 50,000 Californians who were living on the streets when COVID-19 began causing substantial impacts in the state.KCRA 3 News reached out to Sen. Jim Nielsen, R-Red Bluff, to respond to the governor's proposal. Nielsen is the vice chair of the Senate Budget Committee."Mostly in recent years, what we've done with the homeless population, it's kind of like abstract art," Nielsen said. "We come in with a bucket of paint and a room with white walls and just splash the paint on the wall. We're not addressing the needs that put that person on the streets that made them homeless."The governor's proposal is just the start of a lengthy budget process. It will be revised in May and then lawmakers will have until June 15 to pass the 2022-2023 budget.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. —

In his 2022-2023 budget proposal for the state of California, Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to expand investments toward addressing the ongoing homeless crisis.

Last year, he said, $12 billion was budgeted to help create more housing. His office said much of that will take two to three years to come online. On Monday, the governor proposed putting an additional $2 billion in the next budget toward tackling the problem with the goal of funding mental health housing and services and clearing homeless encampments.

"I'm not naïve. I see exactly what you see," Newsom said. "I see the need to do more and better because we still have tens of thousands of others struggling and suffering."

More Like This | Here’s what’s in Gov. Newsom’s 2022 budget blueprint

He touted Project Roomkey, a pandemic-era program that secures rooms in hotels and motels for those who need them. Newsom said it helped provide shelter to more than 50,000 Californians who were living on the streets when COVID-19 began causing substantial impacts in the state.

KCRA 3 News reached out to Sen. Jim Nielsen, R-Red Bluff, to respond to the governor's proposal. Nielsen is the vice chair of the Senate Budget Committee.

"Mostly in recent years, what we've done with the homeless population, it's kind of like abstract art," Nielsen said. "We come in with a bucket of paint and a room with white walls and just splash the paint on the wall. We're not addressing the needs that put that person on the streets that made them homeless."

The governor's proposal is just the start of a lengthy budget process. It will be revised in May and then lawmakers will have until June 15 to pass the 2022-2023 budget.

Newsom pitches spending billions in proposed California budget to confront homeless crisis

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