What to know about California Gov. Gavin Newsom's move to ban encampments

SAN FRANCISCO – California's politician called upon the state's cities and counties to prohibition stateless encampments this week, adjacent providing blueprint authorities for dismantling the tents lining streets, parks and waterways passim overmuch of the state.

Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, made homelessness a precedence of his medication erstwhile helium took bureau successful 2019. It had antecedently been an contented chiefly for mayors and different section officials, but Newsom pumped wealth into converting aged motels into lodging and launched different initiatives to tackle the issue.

Still, helium has repeatedly called retired cities and counties to bash their part, and connected Monday, helium unveiled draught connection that tin beryllium adopted by section governments to region encampments. Here is what to know:

What does the exemplary ordinance say?

Newsom’s exemplary ordinance includes prohibitions connected “persistent camping” successful 1 determination and encampments blocking sidewalks and different nationalist spaces. It asks cities and counties to supply announcement and marque each tenable effort to place and connection structure earlier clearing an encampment.

What bash section governments say?

Organizations representing California's cities and counties balked astatine the proposition that they are to blasted for thoroughfare conditions. They accidental they request dedicated, sustained backing implicit aggregate years for imperishable projects alternatively of sporadic, one-time funding.

Carolyn Coleman, enforcement manager and CEO of the League of California Cities, said that 8 successful 10 cities person policies to code encampments but they request wealth to code the basal causes of homelessness, specified arsenic much housing.

The California State Association of Counties said the authorities has not provided arsenic overmuch wealth to code homelessness arsenic it says it has and that fractional of the wealth has gone to lodging developers.

What bash stateless advocates say?

Studies person shown that encampment bans and different punitive measures marque it adjacent harder for radical to find unchangeable lodging and work, said Alex Visotzky with the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

People whitethorn suffer captious documents oregon suffer interaction with a trusted lawsuit manager, forcing them to commencement each implicit again.

In Los Angeles, Jay Joshua watches implicit a tiny encampment successful which helium besides lives. He says encampments tin beryllium a harmless abstraction for those surviving there.

What are California cities doing astir encampments?

Major cities with Democratic mayors person already started cracking down connected encampments, saying they contiguous a nationalist wellness and information hazard.

In San Francisco, caller politician Daniel Lurie vowed to cleanable up metropolis sidewalks. In San Jose, Mayor Matt Mahan has projected arrests if a idiosyncratic refuses structure 3 times.

Do cities and counties person to follow it?

Newsom can't marque cities and counties follow an encampment ban.

But the projected encampment authorities was paired with an announcement of $3.3 cardinal successful assistance wealth for facilities to dainty intelligence wellness and substance maltreatment disorders, suggesting that helium could information authorities backing connected compliance.

In 2022, helium paused $1 cardinal successful authorities wealth for section government, saying that their plans to trim homelessness fell abbreviated of the acceptable.

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