Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday called on cities to ban homeless encampments from public property, using billions in state funding as leverage.
The guidance from Newsom, an early contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, would prohibit people from placing tents on public property, including sidewalks, parks, and bike paths, while also banning individuals from sleeping on streets with sleeping bags or blankets for more than three consecutive days.
“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,” Newsom said in a statement, per the New York Post.
Enabled by last year’s Supreme Court ruling that upheld an Oregon law banning camping on public property, the guidance represents a notable shift in Newsom’s approach to managing homelessness.
“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.”
However, Newsom’s ordinance specifies that no one “should face criminal punishment for sleeping outside when they have nowhere else to go,” and further requires city officials to “make every reasonable effort to identify and offer shelter” and services to encampment residents.
Newsom is unable to compel municipalities to implement the ban, but he has pledged approximately $3.3 billion in state funding to cities that adopt his guidance.
The model ordinance would allow for enforcement that officials hope could begin to reshape California’s urban landscape without running afoul of legal precedent, encouraged by California voters approving a Newsom-backed measure imposing strict requirements on counties to spend on housing and drug treatment programs to address homelessness.
A 2024 statewide audit found that Newsom’s government had spent $24 billion to address homelessness since 2019, only for the state to have a record homeless population of 187,000, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.
Newsom’s rightward shift on homelessness has faced backlash from many progressives in the lead-up to the 2028 Democratic presidential primary, with the progressive Current Affairs magazine deeming Newsom “not a progressive.”
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