California advances bill to permanently fund solution to homelessness
Alan Riquelmy
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) — Upon returning to his district after the week’s legislative session, California Assemblymember Mike Gipson went searching for his godson.
He’d find him at a crack house in the Los Angeles area, step into the building and pull him out.
Gipson once helped his godson obtain a housing voucher after he appeared one day at his front door, only to discover he couldn’t write his own name.
The godson remains one of the 187,000 unhoused people in California, the Carson Democrat told the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee on Wednesday.
The homelessness issue in the Golden State led Gipson to introduce Assembly Bill 1165, called the California Housing Justice Act of 2025. The bill passed the housing committee and now advances to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
“They are sleeping in tents, mobile homes in my district, and cars,” Gipson said, adding later: “Now is the time California can truly lead the way.”
Gipson said the state has allocated funding toward ending homelessness, but it’s come in the form of short-term investments. His bill would require the Legislature to designate money annually to solve homelessness and housing unaffordability.
There’s no money allocated in the legislation. Instead, lawmakers must in future years appropriate money into the California Housing Justice Fund.
“We must commit to ongoing funding, not just one-time funding,” Gipson said.
State agencies would create funding plans under the bill by Jan. 1, 2027. One plan would focus on how much money is needed to construct enough housing to meet the needs of the state’s homeless population, as well as the housing needs of people near homelessness. A second plan would determine the funding needed to address California’s affordable housing needs.
Additionally, the state Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency would report each year to the Legislature on benchmarks included in the finance plans, and publish the information and progress levels at least once a year.
Gipson argued that the bill provided a roadmap to end homelessness in the state by directing ongoing funding to the problem and including accountability measures.
Pinky Toney, with the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, said she’s been homeless four times.
“When I lost my home, I lost my hope,” she added.
California’s housing and homelessness situation is beyond a crisis, Toney said, and Gipson’s bill is a path to correct the problem.
No one spoke against the bill on Wednesday, though the California Association of Realtors previously registered opposition unless it’s amended. It wants a prohibition on converting entry-level, market-rate housing units into rental housing.
“Considering the scale of the problem we’re facing, we need these big ideas,” said Matt Haney, a San Francisco Democrat and committee chair.
Haney’s committee also advanced Assembly Bill 48 to the Appropriations Committee. Titled the College Health and Safety Bond Act of 2026, the legislation would authorize an as-of-yet undetermined amount of money to build and modernize California campus facilities.
“We are seeing widespread infrastructure failures,” said Assemblymember David Alvarez, a San Diego Democrat and the bill’s author.
Representatives from both the University of California and California State University systems supported the bill, saying it wouldn’t solve all their infrastructure needs but would address many of them.
Some committee members suggested the measure earmark bond dollars for affordable housing. Haney wanted to see universities have a greater presence in downtowns. Potentially, they could convert vacant buildings to educational use.
The bond act would only become effective if voters approve it in a 2026 election.