Gov. Newsom awards $131M to clear homeless encampments; Sacramento gets $18M

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Friday that the state will grant 18 cities $131 million to clear homeless encampments and provide shelter, care and support.

The grants are a part of the state’s $1 billion Encampment Resolution Funds. The city of Sacramento is slated to receive $18.2 million in funding, the most of any city.

“We’re supporting local communities’ efforts to get people out of encampments and connected with care and housing across the state. It’s important and urgent work that requires everyone to do their part. The state has committed more than $27 billion to help local governments tackle the homelessness crisis — and we want to see $27 billion worth of results,” Newsom said in a statement.

Award recipients will need to adhere “to all state housing and homeless laws — as well as remain in compliance with their Housing Elements — or risk losing funding and face other enforcement actions,” according to Newsom.

The announcement comes after the city of Norwalk’s compliance with the housing element law was revoked on Thursday, deeming the city ineligible to receive state housing and homelessness funds.

The state Department of Housing and Community Development revoked its compliance after Norwalk City Council decided to extend its moratorium on emergency shelters for the homeless, single-room occupancy and transitional housing, a day after Newsom threatened the city with a potential lawsuit if the ordinance wasn’t reversed.

In July, Newsom signed an executive order, which, among other things, allowed state and local officials to dismantle homeless encampments.

The executive order was issued in response to a Supreme Court decision in late June that granted officials authority to remove the encampments and ticket people for camping in public in Grants Pass, Oregon. While some city leaders applauded the executive order, others, like Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, called the decision “unfortunate.”

While Newsom cannot force local authorities to act, his administration can apply pressure by withholding money for counties and cities.

Here’s the full list of cities and communities that received funding:

• City of Antioch – $6,812,686
• City of Berkeley – $5,395,637
• City of Carlsbad – $2,994,225
• City of Los Angeles – $11,351,281
• City of Palm Springs – $5,106,731
• City of Petaluma – $8,098,978
• City of Redlands — $5,341,800
• City of Richmond —- $9,336,746
• City of Sacramento — $18,199,661
• City of San Jose —- $4,821,083
• City of Victorville — $6,365,070
• City of Visalia —- $3,000,000
• County of Contra Costa —- $5,708,516
• County of Riverside — $12,612,779
• County of San Bernardino — $11,000,000
• City and County of San Francisco – $7,975,486
• Humboldt County — Continuum of Care – $3,784,294
• Pasadena – Continuum of Care – $2,772,801

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