Mayor Steinberg: Governor's budget proposal 'offers hope for millions'
Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg said Thursday that Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed budget represents “a new and purposeful strategy to help struggling Californians improve their possibilities, their opportunities and their quality of life.”
“I applaud Gov. Newsom for this progressive, fiscally sound budget proposal,” said Mayor Steinberg, who chairs California’s Big City Mayors coalition. “It offers hope for the millions of adults and children left behind by high housing prices and lack of access to high-quality, affordable early childhood education. The governor recognizes the importance of investing in both physical infrastructure, especially housing, and human infrastructure, including preparing everyone to participate in today’s job market.”
The budget contains $1.9 billion to boost efforts by California cities and counties to help the homeless and build more affordable housing. Sacramento stands to gain tens of millions of dollars under the plan, which includes $500 million in one-time funding for cities and counties to address the crisis of homelessness.
Mayor Steinberg also praised Gov. Newsom for including financial incentives for local governments to rapidly create new shelter beds and affordable housing. The proposal includes money cities could use to hire planning, developing and permit staff to speed the processing of applications. It offers $200 million in incentives for cities that rapidly add shelter capacity.
Gov. Gavin Newsom and Mayor Darrell Steinberg visit a Sacramento preschool on Oct. 31.
Gov. Newsom has also proposed streamlining the state’s environmental approval process for shelters, navigation centers and affordable housing. His budget proposal also contains $100 million for local jurisdictions to extend their Whole Person Care programs, which target the most vulnerable members of the homeless population with outreach and services to stabilize their lives and place them in permanent housing.
In addition, the budget would allocate $750 million in incentives for local governments to jump-start housing production and $500 million for the development of housing for moderate income people. Gov. Newsom also proposes spending $25 million for research and treatment of early psychosis.
“By intervening with young people when they have their first mental health crisis, we can prevent them from experiencing the type of severe and repeated trauma that results in many people becoming homeless in our state,” Mayor Steinberg said.
Big City Mayors, formerly the Big 11, is a coalition of Mayors across California’s 13 largest cities. Members include Mayors from Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, Fresno, Sacramento, Long Beach, Oakland, Bakersfield, Anaheim, Riverside and Stockton.
