Addressing the state’s housing and homelessness crises are the top priority for the Governor, Legislature, and voters. Yet, the proposed budget falls substantially short in delivering any significant progress in these areas.

The Governor proposed $1.2 billion of cuts in addition to cuts in his January budget to vital housing assistance programs which transition unhoused communities in to permanent housing. All while maintaining commitments to inhumane and ineffective actions such as clearing encampments and enacting the narrowly approved Proposition 1.

New proposed cuts include $360 million to rehabilitate properties facing foreclosure, effectively ending that program. The Multifamily Housing Program, which provides loans for low-income rental housing development, is all but eradicated with $75 million in new cuts on top of the $250 million cut in the January budget.

This budget proposal also zeroes out all remaining funding for a half-billion dollar program to keep existing affordable housing affordable, and cuts $152 million for first-time homebuyers. And after allocating $1 billion to the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention program, he is clawing back an additional $260 million from cities that would be used for programs to help people living on the streets.

Local governments are put in the impossible position of being mandated to deliver housing without the state funding to materialize it. All the while, unhoused communities continue to increase in number.

“As evidenced by a recent Assembly Budget oversight hearing, the Administration and elected leaders must do more to account where housing and homelessness funds have gone and how effective they have been in achieving their intended goals,” said Navneet Grewal, Litigation Counsel for DRC’s Civil Rights Practice Group. “Investing in housing will be rewarded in a state that future generations are proud to call home. Now is not the time to abandon the pursuit of accessible and affordable housing for all Californians," Grewal added.

Disability Rights California (DRC) – Is the agency designated under federal law to protect and advocate for the rights of Californians with disabilities. The mission of drc is to defend, advance, and strengthen the rights and opportunities of people with disabilities. For more information visit: https://www.disabilityrightsca.org.