After pouring a staggering $24 billion into homelessness over five years with little to show for it, California Governor Gavin Newsom is now begging local leaders to do what his own administration couldn’t: clear the tents, clean the streets, and restore basic order.
On Monday, Newsom unveiled a model law designed to help cities sweep out the sprawling homeless encampments choking sidewalks, parks, and public spaces across the state. He’s also dangling $3.3 billion in voter-approved funds to expand shelter and treatment—yet again asking taxpayers to pay for a crisis government created and failed to fix.
“The time for inaction is over. There are no more excuses,” Newsom declared.
But for many Californians, the only thing worse than the encampments is the governor’s hypocrisy. Newsom, who has long postured as a progressive crusader, is now playing catch-up as polls show homelessness is one of the biggest reasons residents are fleeing the state—and voters are losing patience.
California: Epicenter of America’s Homeless Crisis
With nearly 190,000 people living on the streets, California accounts for roughly a quarter of the nation’s entire homeless population, despite being just 12% of the country’s total population.
Encampments have overwhelmed liberal strongholds like San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Oakland, where streets are littered with trash, needles, and human waste. Businesses have shuttered. Families avoid public parks. Tourists walk in fear. And violent incidents tied to encampments have become routine.
“It’s not compassionate to let people slowly die in tents while law-abiding citizens suffer,” said San Jose resident and retired police officer Dan Valerio. “We need leadership, not slogans.”
Even Democratic mayors have begun to admit the obvious. In San Jose, Mayor Matt Mahan proposed arresting homeless individuals who repeatedly refuse shelter offers. In San Francisco, new mayor Daniel Lurie ran on a platform to “clear the sidewalks.” And in Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass has faced criticism as her much-hyped “Inside Safe” initiative failed to reduce visible homelessness in key neighborhoods.
Still, tents, rusted RVs, and makeshift shanties remain fixtures of daily life—even as Los Angeles faces a $1 billion budget deficit and grapples with rebuilding after the devastating Pacific Palisades wildfire.
Model Ordinance or Political Cover?
Newsom’s new push includes a proposed ordinance that cities can adopt or modify. Key features include:
- Banning “persistent camping” in one location
- Prohibiting encampments that block public access
- Requiring notice and a shelter offer before removals
But critics say it’s too little, too late.
The 2024 state audit revealed the Newsom administration spent tens of billions across more than 30 overlapping programs from 2018 to 2023—with no reliable data on whether any of it worked. The audit exposed what many suspected: money flowed, bureaucracy bloated, and nothing changed.
“Californians didn’t get results. They got more tents and more taxes,” said policy analyst Rachel Monroe from the conservative-leaning Golden West Foundation.
Meanwhile, advocacy groups like the National Alliance to End Homelessness oppose the crackdown, claiming it could disrupt case management and delay housing placements. But to fed-up residents, that argument doesn’t hold up after years of excuses and skyrocketing street populations.
Newsom Eyes National Ambitions—But Can’t Fix His Own State
The timing of Newsom’s push is no accident. As speculation swirls over his White House ambitions, the governor appears desperate to shed the image of a leader who turned America’s most beautiful state into a third-world spectacle.
He supported the 2024 voter-approved initiative to require counties to spend existing “millionaire tax” revenues on housing and treatment for the mentally ill and addicted. He also backed laws to force people into treatment—a move that enraged the far left but found support among moderates.
And he’s repeatedly threatened to withhold state funds from cities that don’t act—while offering few solutions of his own.
“If this is how he runs California, imagine him in the White House,” said GOP strategist Mike Harlow. “This isn’t leadership. It’s damage control.”
As California crumbles under the weight of its own policies, Newsom’s latest move is less a bold new strategy and more a silent admission: the progressive experiment failed.
And the people—both housed and unhoused—are paying the price.
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Where would they go? America should never let people be homeless. Our government has failed a segment of the population with no concern or a solution. Shame on our politicians for this condition. Stop spending on other countries and spend on Americans first.
Democrats always think it’s a spending problem when it’s an ADDICTIONS/STONER problem!
Oh wait! maybe because of the facts that A) Shelters are full to the brim and beyond, B a “efficiency apartment’ costs $3,000 or more, a month and there are very few, if any jobs they can do?? could that be the bloody reason?
There is housing and jobs once the 20 million ILLEGALS are booted out of them!
Maybe if most of that money didn’t go into his pocket !….
Gavin Grusome is a failure on all levels. Failure as a SF Mayor and now Governor of Ca! He has his sights set on a Presidential run of which be a total and utter failure. His reputation in CA is shot, as his lack of business knowledge and telling the truth. He has driven CA into the ground with his liberal socialist policies and his corruption. His aspirations for the White House must be dismissed and he needs to be kicked to the curb!