Republicans mock Gavin Newsom’s ‘boast’ about slight increase in homelessness
California Republican leaders appeared to mock Gov. Gavin Newsom’s blistering response to a critical analysis of his handling of the Golden State’s homelessness crisis, saying any increase in homelessness is undesirable.
State Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones criticized Newsom, calling the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s year-end homelessness assessment report an indictment of his abilities.
“Gavin Newsom has effectively forgotten about the $27 billion he’s spent on the homelessness crisis,” Jones said, citing the report that ranked California as the state with the highest number of homeless people, an increase of 3 %, reaching 187,000 people.
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“Today’s HUD report makes clear that Newsom’s endless spending ‘solutions’ are not solving the problem but making it worse,” said Jones, a San Diego Republican.
However, the report also noted that family homelessness has doubled or worsened in Illinois, Wyoming, Hawaii and Colorado.
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A statement from the California Assembly Republican Caucus focused on Newsom’s thorough defense of a recently published op-ed in CalMatters that was similarly critical.
The caucus, led by Yuba City Councilman James Gallagher, collectively wrote: “In case you missed it, Governor Newsom’s office threw a tantrum over an op-ed… that broke his record on homelessness. A history of failure on the issue.
If Newsom chooses to seek higher office, his handling of the homelessness crisis will become a key point of attack for future challengers in the 2028 Democratic presidential primary, the CalMatters op-ed said.
The column quoted Newsom as saying “what happens on the streets has to be a priority,” and reported that he also expressed a willingness to hold local officials accountable.
“People have to see and feel progress and change…,” Newsom said, according to the column.
Gallagher’s caucus then cited Newsom’s response to the column, which included a series of scathing posts.
“Given the sheer size of California’s population, talking about homelessness without any broader context or comparison of this administration’s efforts to those of its predecessors,” Newsom’s office wrote in its account on The harm to Californians, plain and simple.
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“As the Governor has said many times, the work is far from over and urgency and results at the local level are needed more than ever. That’s why new accountability tools are being created to get results faster. This It’s also a long-term goal effort—through implementation of Proposition 1, CARE courts, regulatory reform, the just-approved BH-Connect waiver, all of which are designed to address the systemic problem of homelessness but are not yet fully online.
Newsom’s office also released news that in the last few years of Gov. Edmund “Jerry” Brown’s administration, homelessness grew at a rate four times that of his administration.
The post reads: “During Newsom’s administration (2019-2023), the number of homeless people experiencing homelessness increased by 13.83%, compared with an increase of 13.83% during the five-year period prior to his administration (2015-2019). 51.79%.
The governor’s office added that California’s 14% increase in homelessness is also lower than the national increase of 21%.
Assembly Republicans responded to Newsom’s comments.
“Now that the governor is committed to making a difference on this issue, we will make it clear: 20 percent growth is not progress,” their statement read.
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On August 1, San Francisco city crews dismantled a homeless encampment in the San Francisco Bayview District. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Senate Minority Leader Jones said Friday he has co-sponsored bipartisan legislation to change California’s homeless policies and focus on “compassionate enforcement” of encampment violations.
One of his proposals from last term, which did not make it to Newsom’s desk, focused on existing state law that considers “lodging” in a public or private property without a permit to be a disorderly conduct.
The bill would defer prosecution for this offense for 72 hours after first notification and implement “state-mandated local programs” for homeless people in such situations.
Fox News Digital reached out to Newsom for further response to the criticisms, but had not received a response as of press time.
