GOP mocks Gavin Newsom’s ‘brag’ over modest increase in homelessness hike

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California mayor warns state has 'no intention' of fixing homeless crisis

El Cajon, California Mayor Bill Wells joins 'Fox & Friends First' to discuss U.S. homelessness hitting record highs. 

California Republican leaders appeared to mock Gov. Gavin Newsom’s fiery response to a critical analysis of his handling of the Golden State’s homelessness crisis, saying that any increase in homelessness is not admirable.

State Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones criticized Newsom, calling the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s year-end Homelessness Assessment Report an indictment of his capabilities.

"Gavin Newsom literally lost track of the $27 billion he spent on the homeless crisis," Jones said, citing the report as listing California first in homelessness, with an increase of 3% to 187,000.

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"Today’s HUD report makes it clear that instead of solving the problem, Newsom’s endless spending ‘solution’ has only made it worse," said Jones, R-San Diego.

In a recent statement, Newsom’s office indicated the state "distributed $24 billion to local governments to address homelessness through numerous state programs."

"All that money is accounted for," the statement continued, appearing to reference the funds Jones had claimed were "lost."

"The audit showed that previously not all state programs required locals to report how those dollars improved homelessness for the most recent years and lacked data to compare the effectiveness of one program versus another. That’s been fixed. 

"This administration has added strong accountability and reporting requirements for local governments that receive state funding. Any notion that we don’t know where the money went is preposterous, and that’s not what the audit reported," the statement said.

The report also cited that Illinois, Wyoming, Hawaii and Colorado were the states where family homelessness doubled or worse.

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A statement from the Republican caucus of the California State Assembly keyed into Newsom’s recent thorough defense against an op-ed in the outlet CalMatters that made similar criticisms.

"In case you missed it, Governor Newsom’s office threw a tantrum over a column… that broke down his history of failure on homelessness," the caucus, led by Assemblyman James Gallagher of Yuba City, collectively wrote.

The CalMatters op-ed claimed Newsom’s handling of the homelessness crisis will be a key point of attack for his prospective 2028 Democratic presidential primary challengers if he chooses to seek higher office then.

The column cited Newsom as saying "what’s happening on the streets has to be a top priority," and reported he indicated a willingness to hold local officials accountable as well.

"People have to see and feel the progress and the change…" Newsom said, according to the column.

Gallagher’s caucus then cited Newsom’s response to the column, which consisted of a series of pointed posts.

"Given the sheer population size of California, to talk about homelessness without any of the broader context or how this administration's efforts compare to the prior is a disservice to Californians, plain and simple," Newsom’s office’s account wrote on X.

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"As the Governor has said many times, the work is far from over and urgency and results at the local level are needed more than ever. It's why new accountability tools have been put in place, for quicker results. It's also a longer-term effort -- through implementation of Prop 1, CARE Court, conservatorship reform, the just approved BH-Connect waiver all of which are aimed at addressing the systemic issues of homelessness but not yet fully online."

Newsom’s office also posted that unsheltered homelessness grew four times faster during the waning years of Gov. Edmund "Jerry" Brown’s administration than under his.

"The number of unsheltered homeless increased by 13.83% during the Newsom Administration (2019-2023), compared to an increase of 51.79% in the five-year period prior to the administration (2015-2019)," the post read.

California’s 14% homelessness increase in 2023 also fell below the national increase of 21%, the governor’s office added in the statement released just before this year's numbers.

In 2024, California saw a homelessness increase of 3%, according to a weekend statement released by Newsom’s office. The rate bests 40 other states, the release said. 

Assembly Republicans responded to Newsom’s original comments.

"Since the governor is committed to gaslighting on this issue, we’ll state the obvious: an increase of 20% is not progress," their statement read.

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City of San Francisco workers remove a homeless encampment in the Bayview neighborhood in San Francisco, on Aug. 1. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Jones, the Senate minority leader, cited Friday that he co-sponsored bipartisan legislation to change California’s homelessness policies and focus on "compassionate enforcement" of encampment violations.

One of his proposals from this past term, which did not make it to Newsom’s desk, focused on existing state law deeming "lodging" in a public or private place without permission to be disorderly conduct.

The bill would have delayed any indictment on that count for 72 hours after first notice and imposed a "state-mandated local program" for homeless individuals in those situations.

In a separate statement, Newsom said no American should be without a place to call home:

"Homelessness continues to rise and increase at ever-higher numbers nationwide, but we are seeing signs of progress in California," he said.

"We have turned the tide on a decades-long increase in homelessness – but we have more work to do. California‘s plan is ambitious and challenging but the data is proving that it is not impossible: our strategies are making a positive difference."

Data also showed other large-population states like New York, Florida, Illinois and Texas also suffered a higher growth in unsheltered homelessness than California's, which the governor's office said was under one percent.