Sunday afternoon, Governor Newsom, in partnership with Senator Eggman, proposed a 2024 ballot initiative to “improve how California treats mental illness, substance abuse, and homelessness: A bond to build state-of-the-art mental health treatment residential settings in the community to house Californians with mental illness and substance use disorders and to create housing for homeless veterans, and modernize the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) to require approximately $1 billion every year for behavioral health housing and care.” You may view the full press release here, and SYASL staff notes from the press conference here. You may also view a joint press release with CalHHS here.
More to come on this. There is a sense of déjà vu for the counties right on the heels of last year’s CARE Act; they are concerned about the redirection of funds to be sure. However, the Administration may be open to implementing this in a way that could address many of the counties’ initial concerns. We will most likely discuss this for most of 2023. If you are wondering about the Governor being open to an increase in the MHSA tax on millionaires, SYASL has been told very plainly he is not.