California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a model ordinance on Monday in a press release, calling for Golden State cities to remove their homeless from the streets.
"There's nothing compassionate about letting people die on the streets," Newsom said in a statement. "Local leaders asked for resources — we delivered the largest state investment in history. They asked for legal clarity — the courts delivered. Now, we're giving them a model they can put to work immediately, with urgency and with humanity, to resolve encampments and connect people to shelter, housing, and care. The time for inaction is over. There are no more excuses."
According to the announcement, $3.3 billion will be released to fund housing statewide. The key provisions in the ordinance call for a prohibition on camping in one location, a prohibition on blocking sidewalks, and a decree that local officials make a reasonable effort to offer shelter before clearing out an encampment.
According to journalist Michael Shellenberger, California sustained devastating wildfires that burned down parts of Los Angeles earlier this year "because Newsom" and Los Angeles City Mayor Karen" Bass diverted billions from preventing and fighting catastrophic fires to migrants, homeless, and climate."
Shellenberger has also been notably critical that the homeless problem is "not" a money issue. In a conversation with neuroscientist Tom Insel, the doctor told Shellenberger he believes it's a "leadership" problem.
Meanwhile, Monday's press release from Newsom included a sub-headline that this new effort will "reverse decades of inaction." The sub-headline didn't mention any policies, but it did include a bar graph, not attributable to any source, alleging to show how homelessness in California has "dramatically slowed." The chart showed Florida leading the supposed uptick in pace of homelessness as opposed to California.
The press release came less than a week after The Los Angeles Times ran a piece, stating, "If Gavin Newsom wants to be president, he's got work to do — starting at home."
The piece featured commentary from a former South Carolina Democratic Party chair, Dick Harpootlian, criticizing Newsom for California's homeless crisis.
California has a "huge homeless population," with taxes that "are so freaking high," he said. "It's not a model the rest of the country wants to follow.