Reality bites Newsom on climate, health, homelessness

Gov. Gavin Newsom has a lot of power over how state money is spent. He also makes a lot of sweeping promises.

But sometimes, budget shortfalls get in the way. And other times, the governor must rely on others to fulfill his pledges. 

Here are three different ways those realities are playing out:

• Climate change: In 2022, the governor proposed a $54.3 billion climate action package that aimed to cut air pollution, reduce wildfire risk, invest in renewable energy and more. But after a round of trims last year and additional proposed funding cuts this year, Newsom is now seeking to bring down the cost to $44.9 billion, writes CalMatters climate reporter Alejandro Lazo.

  The governor and legislative leaders haven’t committed to borrowing money to help make up the difference. On Wednesday a coalition of 170 environmental and agriculture groups advocated to put a climate bond on the November ballot. After voters only narrowly approved his mental health bond measure in March, Newsom said the experience “sobered … a lot of the conversation up here.” Read more on the climate cuts and proposed bond in Alejandro’s story.

• Medical insurance: Last year, health care providers serving Medi-Cal patients agreed to be taxed so that the state could claim matching funds from the federal government. The money generated from the tax (estimated to be $35 billion over four years) would then be reinvested in the Medi-Cal system to increase rates and attract providers.

  But according to CalMatters health reporter Kristen Hwang, the single largest budget cut proposed by the governor would move $6.7 billion set aside for increased Medi-Cal payments to plug the state budget hole. That proposal is drawing ire from industry groups representing doctors, hospitals and patients, who argue that the cut would cripple an already overburdened health care system. They’re pushing for a November ballot measure to overturn any cuts. Read more on the issue in Kristen’s story.

• Homelessness: In March 2023, Newsom announced the state would purchase and send 1,200 tiny homes to Sacramento, San Jose, Los Angeles and San Diego County to move homeless Californians living in encampments into more stable housing. But as CalMatters homelessness reporter Marisa Kendall explains, only about 150 of these homes have been purchased to date, and none have welcomed a single resident.

  Not only has it been challenging for local governments to find places to put the homes, but the state revised its funding. Instead of directly buying the units, the state decided to send cash grants to several cities. The change left San Jose, for example, on the hook for millions more dollars than expected. On Wednesday, 11 big-city mayors (including those in Sacramento, San Jose, Los Angeles and San Diego) held an online press conference to urge that the $260 million cut proposed by Newsom in local homeless housing funding be restored. Read more about the tiny home delays in Marisa’s story.

Ahead of Friday’s deadline for bills to advance from the house where they were introduced, the Legislature on Wednesday passed a slew of measures that address fentanyl and retail theft. 

The Senate advanced a 15-bill package championed by Democratic leader Mike McGuire. Ten measures focus on treatment for fentanyl and other substance abuse, and others would increase penalties for retail theft.

Not to be outdone, the Assembly passed seven retail theft bills after Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas formed a select committee last year to study the issue. Both packages are labeled as bipartisan efforts, though only two Republicans have bills: Sen. Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh of Redlands and Assemblymember Juan Alanis of Modesto.

• Rivas, a Salinas Democrat, in a statement: “Californians have spoken loud and clear: They want to feel safe, whether it’s when they’re shopping, walking down the street or going to the park with their kids. These bills are a turning point for California.”

But whether the bills are enough to silence the calls to overhaul a 2014 law — a move that Democratic leaders and Gov. Newsom do not endorse — is unclear. The voter-approved Proposition 47 lowered penalties for petty thefts and minor drug offenses. Proponents behind a proposed November ballot measure to roll back Prop. 47 said Wednesday that the Senate bills “only incrementally address the serious issues.”

According to CalMatters Capitol reporter Alexei Koseff, McGuire told reporters that the Senate bills would do more to address crime than amending Prop. 47, but sidestepped questions about whether the Legislature was trying to negotiate the initiative off the ballot by the June 27 deadline. While acknowledging that lawmakers have talked to the initiative proponents, the Santa Rosa Democrat said repeatedly that it would ultimately be their decision.

In other legislative news as the Assembly and Senate dispensed with nearly 270 more bills Wednesday:

• Airport screenings: The Senate passed a bill that would restrict third-party companies such as CLEAR from expanding to new airports until they get their own dedicated security lane.

• LGBTQ youth: In response to a handful of California school boards adopting policies requiring faculty to notify parents if their children are transgender or gender nonconforming, the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus introduced a bill to ban school districts from implementing what it says are “forced outing” policies.

• Artificial intelligence: Several more AI bills advanced, including one that would require a person or organization to disclose whether they used the technology to alter content in political advertisements. Another would mandate major online platforms to block election-related deepfakes generated by AI.

From CalMatters Capitol reporter Sameea Kamal: 

What’s the cost of democracy in California? 

If we calculate that based just on the pages informing the state’s 22 million voters about Prop. 1 in the official March voter guide, about $8 million.

Each page of the primary voter guide cost $117,880 for printing, translations, audio, mailing and postage, according to the Secretary of State’s office. The total cost of the 112-page March voter guide was $13.2 million. 

That compares to $7.2 million for the 64-page 2022 primary guide, $6.3 million for the 48-page 2020 guide and $7.2 million for the 96-page 2018 guide.

The bulk of this year’s guide was the text for the lone ballot measure, Prop.1, which took up 68 pages. The two-part measure, which barely passed with 50.2% of the vote, authorizes a $6.4 billion bond to build treatment facilities and supportive housing for people with mental health and addiction challenges, and requires cities to spend more on housing.

There’s a 500-word limit for the arguments proponents and opponents of ballot measures can submit, but that doesn’t apply to the text of proposed laws. 

More information for voters is always better, says Carmen Balber, executive director of Consumer Watchdog, an advocacy group that has also sponsored several ballot measures. 

It’s also important to print the guide and mail it to each voter to ensure it’s accessible to everyone, she added. While the Secretary of State posts a version online, not all Californians have easy internet access.

• Mindy Romero, founder and director of the Center for Inclusive Democracy at the University of Southern California: “People will turn to other sources including friends and family, but still, those official sources are where the bulk of voters are getting their information — so they’re important.”

Read more on voter guide costs in the story.