Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have required his administration to do a yearly evaluation of money the state provides to homeless programs.

Under AB 2570, it would require an annual report on the Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention (HHAP) program. Existing law requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to submit an annual report to the Governor and both houses of the Legislature on the operations and accomplishments during the previous fiscal year of the housing programs administered by the department. Existing law requires that the report include, among other things, the number of units assisted by those programs and the number of individuals and households served and their income levels. Under AB 2570, this bill would additionally require that this report include an evaluation of the HHAP program.

The bill, which was introduced by Assemblymember Joe Patterson (R-Rocklin) passed out of the State Senate in a 36-0 vote in June and had a 71-0 vote in the State Assembly in May.

According to the Veto Message:

To the Members of the California State Assembly:

I am returning Assembly Bill 2570 without my signature. This bill would require the Department of Housing and Community Development to conduct an annual evaluation of the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention program (HHAP) and include that information in the Department’s annual report.

I support increasing transparency and accountability for cities and counties’ use of state funding to address homelessness. Earlier this year, I directed California’s Housing Accountability Unit to increase its oversight and enforcement of existing housing laws to address homelessness. Additionally, the recently adopted 2024 Budget includes statutory language that requires more frequent reporting by HHAP grantees on their expenditures, corrective action plans for grantees not meeting specified performance measures, and maintenance of compliant Housing Elements prior to receiving additional HHAP funding.

This bill is redundant to these efforts and creates an unnecessary ongoing workload for the Department without providing additional accountability or transparency to taxpayers.

For reasons, I cannot sign this bill.

Gavin Newsom

State Bipartisan Audit of Homelessness Spending Released

Back in April, Assemblyman Josh Hoover (R-Folsom) announced the release of the State Auditor’s bipartisan audit of homelessness spending that he jointly requested with Senator Roger Niello (R-Fair Oaks), Senator Dave Cortese (D-San Jose), and Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Silicon Valley).

The focus of the audit was to determine whether or not recent investments in solving the state’s growing homelessness crisis have been effective at the state and local level.

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

Other Bills Not yet signed or vetoed on homeless spending or homeless progream include Assembly Bill 2903

• April 25 – Bill to Increase Accountability in Homelessness Spending Clears Committee
• April 18 – Legislation Seeks to Increase Transparency Over Homelessness Spending
• April 9 – State Bipartisan Audit of Homelessness Spending Released