EDITOR’S NOTE: Multimedia journalist Chace Beech spoke with Santa Monica Mayor Lana Negrete about Gov. Gavin Newsom urging local jurisdictions to ban homeless encampments. Click the arrow above to watch the video.
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Gov. Gavin Newsom released Monday a model ordinance for cities and counties to address encampments "with urgency and with humanity" and was calling on local goverment to adopt and implement local policies.
“There’s nothing compassionate about letting people die on the streets. Local leaders asked for resources — we delivered the largest state investment in history. They asked for legal clarity — the courts delivered. Now, we’re giving them a model they can put to work immediately, with urgency and with humanity, to resolve encampments and connect people to shelter, housing, and care. The time for inaction is over. There are no more excuses,” Newsom said in a statement.
According to his office's news release, the model ordinance follows and builds on Newsom’s 2024 executive order, which urged all local jurisdictions to quickly address encampments and use state and local funding to connect people experiencing homelessness with the care and support they need.
It also added that the authority was affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court last year when it held that cities can punish individuals, including those experiencing homelessness, for sleeping in public, even if they have no alternative shelter available.
This announcement comes as $3.3 billion in voter-approved Proposition 1 funding is set to be released later Monday to communities statewide to expand behavioral health housing and treatment options for the most seriously ill and homeless in the state.
Newsom detailed the ordinance Monday afternoon following introductions by various state leaders.
"In this last year, we were very intentional about our desire to get to this moment as quickly as we possibly could, mindful that the public is exhausted by the conversation around behavioral health, conversation around homelessness challenges that we've faced," Newsom said. "They want to see any kind of intentionality that they haven't seen in the past. And that's what we've promised with Proposition 1. That's what we promoted during the initiative, a $6.38 billion bond that was committed to rectifying and reconciling the failure of the past — decades and decades of neglect."
The ordinance was said to contain key provisions, including:
- A prohibition on persistent camping in one location
- A prohibition on encampments that block free passage on sidewalks
- A requirement that local officials provide notice and make every reasonable effort to identify and offer shelter prior to clearing an encampment
This is a developing story and will be updated.