Newsom vetoes unopposed bill to require public reports on homeless spending outcomes

(The Center Square) - California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed an unopposed bill that would have required the state to publish public reports on homeless spending and outcomes, saying accountability measures are already in place. A state audit earlier this year found the state has not consistently tracked or evaluated recent $24 billion in state homelessness spending.

“Governor Newsom is doubling down on his failed response to homelessness. Our state has spent billions of taxpayer dollars in recent years only to see the homeless population increase statewide,” said AB 2903 author State Assemblyman Josh Hoover, R-Folsom, on X. “We will not solve this crisis until we get serious about accountability.”

In July, Newsom vetoed another unopposed bill requiring more reporting and evaluation of homelessness spending, also claiming he already is increasing accountability.

Hoover’s bill would require the state “to report annually to the council cost and outcome data for each [homeless] program” and make both the data and reports available to the public.

In his veto letter for Hoover’s bill, Newsom said, “While I fully support efforts to increase accountability and the effectiveness of our state homelessness programs, similar measures are already in place.”

Newsom then said the 2024 budget already mandates “enhanced reporting for two of the state’s largest homelessness programs,” and that a bill he did sign, AB 799, “addresses the same objectives as this bill in a more targeted and cost-effective manner.”

AB 799 requires the California Interagency Council on Homelessness, which oversees the state’s homelessness programs, to “collect fiscal and outcome data,” along with “data elements on the individuals and families it serves into its local Homeless Management Information System,” on an annual basis by February 1, 2027, with that data available to the public by June 1, 2027.

Hoover’s bill would have required the data to be collected by September 1, 2025, and made available by June 1, 2026. The next gubernatorial election is on November 3, 2026, which means Hoover's bill would have made homelessness program spending and evaluation data available before that election; Newsom is term-limited and cannot run for re-election, but the findings could have had a major impact on that year's races.

The legislature has not exercised its power to override a governor's veto with a 2/3 vote in each of the body's two chamber since 1980, which suggests the veto is final.