How California governor candidates say they will tackle homelessness

Homelessness — and affordability, housing availability and myriad other issues tangential to a very visible problem in California — is among the many concerns Californians have that the bevy of gubernatorial candidates will be asked to address as the campaign for governor continues this year.

In fact, a recent Public Policy Institute survey found 8 in 10 Californians are at least somewhat concerned about homelessness in their area.

So what are the candidates’ plans? The official field may not be quite set yet, but with less than six months to go until the primary, take an early look at what the major candidates for California governor have said about their plans to address homelessness below.

(Note: Campaigns for former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco declined requests for an interview or more information about the candidates’ platforms for this story. A spokesperson for Rep. Eric Swalwell also did not respond to requests for comment or an interview.)

Steve Hilton

Steve Hilton, a Republican and former Fox News host, has made cost of living, in general, a key component of his campaign.

But when it comes to homelessness, specifically, Hilton said the governor should ensure laws against encampments are enforced locally and to ensure people with mental health or substance abuse problems receive treatment.

“I would make sure that any place in California that doesn’t enforce the law on encampments, I will use state law enforcement resources to do that,” he said in an October television interview.

While his campaign website doesn’t include any additional specifics about his plans to eradicate homelessness, Hilton, in a phone call, pointed to his policy organization, Golden Together, which last year laid out several ideas to curtail homelessness, including turning to congregate “recovery shelters” as opposed to individual apartments or tiny homes, making it easier to involuntarily commit someone with a mental illness to a care facility, auditing nonprofits and other developers that receive homelessness assistance funds, and improving programs designed to reduce recidivism.

“To begin with, helping the homeless and getting them off the streets requires the will on the part of public officials to take these steps,” Hilton’s organization said.

Katie Porter

For former Rep. Katie Porter, tackling homelessness, lowering the cost of housing and addressing prevention — such as emergency rental assistance and rapid rehousing — all go hand in hand. The goal, she said, should be to stop the addition of more unhoused people in the state.

“We will not solve this problem if more Californians are becoming newly homeless each day,” Porter said in a statement provided by her campaign.

“California’s focus has been on permanent supportive housing, which is important, but I would also invest in more interim housing to provide shelter,” the Irvine Democrat added. “Solving unsheltered homelessness is achievable if we make smart, data-driven investments in prevention and interim housing.”

“Our long-term housing challenges require building more housing and doing it more quickly to bring down prices, as well as innovating in housing designs and materials,” she said of her plans.

Tom Steyer

The first thing Tom Steyer said he would do as governor is ensure more housing is built. And that’s going to take a concerted effort across the state, the billionaire entrepreneur said, “because there are permitting issues, there are zoning issues, there are cost-per-square-foot issues, there is NIMBY-ism.”

But aside from the amount of or access to housing, Steyer said a big concern for the governor, when it comes to homelessness, is mental health.

Homelessness — from the stress and fear of living without shelter to the ready access to drugs — can exacerbate already existing mental health problems, such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, but it can also cause new ones, like post-traumatic stress disorder, the Democratic contender said.

“The No. 1 thing I care about, in terms of homelessness, is to try to prevent people from getting onto the street. And when they are on the street, to try to get them off the street as fast as possible,” Steyer said in a recent interview at Seafood Cove in Westminster.

In the short term, more emergency interim housing is needed to first provide shelter for folks, Steyer said, saying, “It’s not the permanent solution, but it’s the solution that gets you off the street and prevents you from being in that cycle of stress and mental health pressure.”

The governor, Steyer said, “has to use the power of the office” to speed up the development of housing and shelter.

And when it comes to the other issue — where to find the space for more housing and shelter — Steyer said he would advocate for using publicly controlled land and facilities.

Tony Thurmond

As the state’s superintendent of public instruction, Tony Thurmond said he’s sponsoring legislation that would, in part, support subsidized housing for unaccompanied homeless youth.

Furthermore, the Democrat said he’s working on a proposal to make it easier for school districts to build affordable housing — with the goal of having districts build 2 million affordable housing units on surplus properties by 2030. Many of those units, he said, could benefit teachers and other school employees. The superintendent is also planning to sponsor legislation to provide districts with start-up funds and technical assistance as they work with developers to get the housing built.

And he supports an effort to place a $10 billion bond measure on the ballot to pay for more affordable housing, including tiny homes, which he said he’s a fan of.

He’d also levy a fee on companies that have bought up properties but are “just sitting on them” without providing housing — a situation he said has driven up housing prices.

Additionally, Thurmond favors taxing the state’s wealthiest residents more to pay for health care, including mental health services for those experiencing or are at risk of homelessness. On that note, he said he supports housing programs that require participants to undergo treatment if applicable to their situation.

“Many who are unhoused are experiencing severe mental health needs and sometimes substance abuse,” he said. “If you just give housing to someone without providing the needed supports, that often results in a failed experience.”

Antonio Villaraigosa

If elected governor, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa would require clear performance benchmarks for each dollar the state spends to address homelessness, with an eye toward how many people get housed and remain housed, as well as how much that costs.

“California doesn’t have a homelessness funding problem. It has a results problem,” he said, citing a state audit which showed that California allocated about $24 billion over five years to address the crisis, yet the number of homeless people increased.

Villaraigosa said he doesn’t support criminalizing homelessness, though he believes certain people who are mentally ill and a threat to themselves or others should be in locked institutions.

“If you’re offered shelter and services and you refuse it, you don’t have a right to be homeless,” Villaraigosa, a Democrat, said in an interview.

He said he’d look at incentivizing cities to cut red tape in order to build more housing, including homeless and affordable housing. One solution would be to suspend the state’s environmental review requirement for such projects, he said.

Betty Yee

Before asking taxpayers for more money to address homelessness, former state controller Betty Yee said she’d first review whether existing programs are meeting needs. She also wants clearer delineation of the roles of government.

“There’s been so much funding put forth to try to deal with homelessness issues, but I don’t believe there’s ever been clear articulation about the roles and responsibilities of the state, of counties and of cities,” the Democratic candidate said in an interview.

Yee considers rent stabilization programs and rent subsidies critical to preventing homelessness.

As for increasing the state’s affordable housing stock, she proposed redevelopment projects in blighted areas. This could mean “adaptive reuse” projects that convert underutilized or unused buildings into housing. She also supports community land trusts, where the land is owned or maintained by local governments or nonprofits, and the housing that’s built there remains affordable for renters.

In terms of unhoused individuals who suffer from mental illness or substance abuse, Yee proposed increasing access to treatment programs.

“If this is a population that is not open to doing that, I do think there has to be some involuntary measures,” she said.