SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two major pieces of legislation Thursday to transform the state’s mental health system and address the state’s worsening homelessness crisis, putting them both before voters in 2024.
The Democratic governor needs voters’ approval because he wants to borrow billions of dollars through a bond to pay for the proposals. They would allow the state to borrow $6.38 billion for 11,150 new treatment beds, housing and 26,700 outpatient treatment slots to serve up to 100,000 people a year. The measure also would overhaul how counties pay for mental and behavioral health programs.
Newsom spoke to state and local leaders at an event Thursday in a historic hospital in Los Angeles, cheered by those present as he signed the measures. The mostly vacant General Hospital is being converted into roughly 1,000 affordable units.
Newsom said the proposals will transform the outdated system, adding he understands why residents in California have grown increasingly frustrated with the crisis. If voters approve of the plan in March, the proposals would also give the state $2.4 billion in the next five years to help train 65,000 workers.
“Today, again, is about holding ourselves to a higher level of accountability and higher level of expectation,” Newsom said before he signed the two pieces of legislation. “It’s about creating a framework where we actually can deliver.”
“Here in L.A. and throughout our city and state we know that we are facing a crisis,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said. “We are going to transform the system, but we’re also doing something that should’ve been done 50 years ago, and that is build the beds and facilities to make sure that people can get the treatment they need.”
The proposals will appear together as one item on the March 2024 ballot, when voters will also be weighing in on the state and presidential primaries.