California Gov. Gavin Newsom is ordering state officials to begin dismantling thousands of homeless encampments, calling on government leaders to act on a recent Supreme Court decision “with urgency and dignity.” His executive order, which is expected to affect tens of thousands of people, represents the nation’s most sweeping response to a June ruling that gave governments greater authority to remove homeless people from their streets, reports the New York Times. Homeless encampments have vexed California, where housing costs are high, more than any other state. An estimated 180,000 people were homeless last year in California, the most in the nation, and about 123,000 homeless people on any given night were unsheltered. Most jurisdictions in California do not guarantee a right to housing.
Newsom will advise California cities and counties on how best to ramp up enforcement on a signature issue of his administration, but he cannot force them to take action. He also will mandate that state agencies not simply move campers along, but work with local governments to house people and provide services into which the state has pumped billions of dollars. “There are simply no more excuses,” he added. “It’s time for everyone to do their part.” Newsom has allocated $24 billion to combat homelessness since he took office in 2019. His administration says it helped move more than 165,000 homeless people into temporary or permanent housing two fiscal years ago. On June 28, the Supreme Court upheld an Oregon city’s ban on homeless residents sleeping outdoors. The high court reversed an appeals court ruling that it was unconstitutional to punish people for sleeping in public spaces when they had no other legal place to spend the night. Advocates for homeless people denounced the decision as cruel and predicted that it would incite a “race to the bottom” as cities cracked down.
Comments