California could sue cities over homeless plans under proposed law

California cities could face lawsuits for failing to follow through on plans to dramatically reduce homelessness under a proposal from San Francisco Democrat that aims to help end the humanitarian emergency by 2029.

Assembly Bill 816 would first require the Department of Housing and Community Development and local governments to complete a “gaps and needs analysis” to identify what resources are available and what’s needed to tackle the problem.

By 2023, agencies and city officials would have to submit proposals that detail plans to reduce homelessness by 90% by the end of the decade, with an emphasis on racial and ethnic disparities in the community.

The bill would establish a “homelessness inspector general,” who could then pursue legal action against the state and local governments should they fail to follow through on their commitments.

Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco, who wrote the bill, said AB 816 would “put everyone on notice” to “come up with a real plan to address homelessness.”

“We need everyone to pull their weight,” Chiu said. “We want to make the system very clear that there is accountability.”

Chiu plans to formally introduce the bill Wednesday, days after the state auditor issued a damning report that highlighted California’s lack of a “coherent, consistent and effective” homelessness strategy.

Despite both the federal and state governments funneling billions of dollars into programs and agencies, the number of homeless people in California increased to more than 150,000 in 2019, according to the report, a 15% increase from 2017.

California’s “disjointed approach” is partly because the state lacks a single entity responsible for overseeing the homelessness response, the auditor’s office noted. That’s led to insufficient data being collected, and a messy strategy that’s made it hard to hit homelessness goals.

The auditor suggested the Legislature with tidy up the state’s data collection process and establish oversight of state agencies and local programs that aim to keep people from falling into homelessness.

Chiu’s idea of oversight is a governor-appointed homelessness inspector general who’d provide technical assistance to state and local agencies, and conduct audits of their plans’ execution to ensure compliance.

Should the inspector general determine the state or local governments are not fulfilling requirements — either by failing to submit plans or adhere to them — he or she could file a lawsuit to compel cooperation.

Despite the possibility that an inspector general could add another complicated layer to an already overly bureaucratic system, Chiu said this path would still be better than the “complex, expensive and time-consuming” homelessness legal battles that have recently played out in California courtrooms up and down the state.

And without state oversight, some officials and advocates have argued, too many jurisdictions are neglecting to meaningfully mitigate the ballooning number of people huddling under bridges, sleeping on sidewalks and camping out in their cars.

“The public policy is wrong,” said Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, who is co-sponsoring the legislation. “It needs to be turned on its head. It should no longer be an option. Shift the paradigm from this being an option and we’ll do the best we can, which is never good enough, to an actual requirement.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s 2021-2022 budget proposal he announced in January includes $1.75 billion in homelessness funding.

A bulk of that money would continue supporting Homekey grants and projects that free up money for local governments and agencies to purchase unused motels and hotels for housing.

Steinberg said Homekey, and the COVID-19 public health emergency that made it critical to house vulnerable and unsheltered Californians, has demonstrated what’s possible when local governments are handed the tools to urgently address the issue.

With a 2029 deadline, and possible lawsuits as incentive, Steinberg said Chiu’s bill could force an overdue and much-needed legislative solution to California’s chaotic homelessness blueprint.

“That compelled urgency led us to bringing in more people in a short time than ever before,” Steinberg said. “It’s now our obligation to find the right form, the right way, to replicate that success.”

This story was originally published February 17, 2021 at 8:15 AM with the headline "California could sue cities over homeless plans under proposed law."