Former California Dem leader torches Newsom's bid for federal funding to house homeless: 'Political animal'

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Newsom asks Biden for federal taxpayer dollars to house California's homeless

Former Democrat leader of California State Senate Gloria Romeo reacts to Gov. Gavin Newsom seeking federal health care funding to pay rent for homeless population.

A California Democrat is calling out Gov. Gavin Newsom's handling of the state's spiraling homeless crisis after the governor's alleged request to use federal taxpayer dollars to cover housing costs.

Newsom reportedly asked the Biden administration to fund a "transitional rent" program that would "provide up to six months of rent or temporary housing for low income enrollees who rely on the state's health care safety net," according to the Los Angeles Times. 

Former Democratic leader of the California State Senate Gloria Romeo slammed Newsom's federal funding request during "Fox & Friends First."

GOV. NEWSOM ROASTED FOR PLAN TO BUILD TINY HOUSES FOR HOMELESS: ‘HE HAS RUINED CALIFORNIA’

"I live in California, but this is not right," Romero told Ashley Strohmier on Wednesday. "It's not fair to anybody across the nation to bail out the failures here in California. But the truth is, is that Newsom is a very political animal. He's still considering the presidency. Does he have something over Biden that he is saying, 'Look, bro… go ahead and bail us out, and I won't run against you. There's probably a lot of back talk going on.'"

According to the L.A. Times report, Newsom has been pushing for homeless to be able to use the state's public health care program, Medi-Cal, to fund housing subsidies to help mitigate the housing crisis.

TOPSHOT - Two homeless people sleep on the beach during the early morning at Venice Beach, California on August 12, 2021.  (Apu GOMES / AFP) (Photo by APU GOMES/AFP via Getty Images)

But Romero called the move to obtain federal assistance a "bailout," accusing Newsom of not tackling the root causes of the issue –  a lack of resources to battle addiction and mental health struggles. 

"Make no doubt about it, this is a bailout," Romero said. "The reality is, is that California, under the leadership of Governor Newsom, leads the nation in homelessness, and it's spiraling out of control with his lack of focus on increasing crime, drug addiction and the failure to provide for mental health services."

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"So this is just a backdoor way to try to get President Biden, in a presidential run that Newsom is still considering, to bail out his failed policies," she continued. 

Newsom has long been an advocate of bolstering the state's social safety programs as a way to combat the crisis. "Doctors should be able to write prescriptions for housing the same way they do for insulin or antibiotics," he wrote on Twitter back in 2020. 

Gov. Gavin Newsom with President Joe Biden (Getty Images)

But Romero warned the governor cannot fix the homeless crisiswith a "prescription pad," warning that if the federal program gets approved, it will likely be anything but "transitional."

"There is no way that he can do this with a prescription pad," Romero said. "He can only do it with political muscle, but if anybody thinks that this would only be for six months… Remember… two weeks to flatten the curve. There's no such thing as a temporary government program… Six months will become a year. Then it will become permanent."

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"This is something that Newsom hopes will bail him out so that nobody across the nation will see how failed the California state is when it comes to homelessness, to drug addiction, to crime, and to the lack of mental health," she continued. "This is on Newsom, not on the taxpayers."

California comprises 50% of the nation's unsheltered homeless population, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. That amounts to 171,521 homeless residents. 

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Additionally, one third of the entire homeless population across the country live in California. 

Romero insisted the state stop throwing money at the issue, explaining how drug addiction and mental health struggles are at the heart of the downward spiral. 

"Newsom, who's been promising, by the way, to end homelessness since I think he was mayor of San Francisco, is digging himself deeper in a hole, and he wants to get out before 2024," Romero said. "It won't work. You cannot buy yourself out of this crisis."