Legislation to Increase Transparency and Accountability Over Homelessness Spending Clears Housing Committee
SACRAMENTO – Assemblyman Josh Hoover (R-Folsom) announced the passage of Assembly Bill 2903 out of the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee, which would require state-run homelessness programs to annually report cost and outcome data to the California Interagency Council on Homelessness (ICH). It would also require ICH to develop uniform procedures for collecting the data and reporting it to the public. The bill passed with unanimous bipartisan support on a 9-0 vote.
AB 2903 implements the recommendation of the California State Auditor following the results of a recent audit requested by Assemblyman Hoover, which found that the state has failed to systemically track homelessness spending and is not adequately positioned to collect data and assess outcomes.
“Just one week after our audit blasted the state for its failure to track homelessness funding, Governor Newsom announced another $200 million in new spending,” Assemblyman Hoover said. “If we truly want to stop ‘funding failure,’ as the Governor claims, we must hold state agencies and homelessness programs accountable. I am grateful for the strong bipartisan support for this effort.”
According to the Auditor’s report, California has spent nearly $24 billion taxpayer dollars since 2018 to solve our homelessness crisis. During that same period the state’s overall homeless population increased by 32 percent and half of the nation’s unsheltered homeless now live in California.
Editors Note: The key takeaways from the State Auditor’s report include:
- The state has failed to systemically track homelessness spending and is not adequately positioned to collect data and assess outcomes
- Without changes to increase transparency and reporting, policymakers will not be able to properly assess the effectiveness of its homelessness programs
- Only two of the five state programs could provide enough information to assess their cost effectiveness
- Neither San Jose or San Diego centrally tracks and reports its spending and outcomes
- Neither city has evaluated the effects of its homelessness programs
- Both cities have sent funding to outside service providers, but have done nothing to assess whether these service providers are getting results
The report was jointly requested from Assemblyman Josh Hoover (R-Folsom) Senator Roger Niello (R-Fair Oaks), Senator Dave Cortese (D-San Jose), and Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Silicon Valley).
Related Stories:
- April 18 – Legislation Seeks to Increase Transparency Over Homelessness Spending
- April 17 – Committee Rejects Solution to Clearing Inhumane Homeless Encampments
- April 9 – State Bipartisan Audit of Homelessness Spending Released
- April 9 – Updated: Homeless Encampment Removed Along Highway 4 in Antioch
- April 3 – Video: Drone Footage Along Highway 4 in Antioch Shows Homeless Encampments
- March 22 – Over 100 Evicted from Antioch Homeless Encampment
- Feb 16 – Hoover and Patterson Introduce “Beyond Housing” Measure to Address Homelessness
- Feb 5 – Editorial: How Antioch Should Provide its Homeless Data
