Newsom pledged to confront California’s housing shortage with an ambitious goal: 3.5 million new housing units by 2025, which would require the state to build housing nearly five times faster than when he took office.

What he’s doing: In his first year, Newsom helped pass a law that prohibits cities from decreasing the number of units allowed on a particular lot, known as “downzoning.” The law cleared the Legislature after Newsom publicly endorsed it. Critics faulted Newsom that year for failing to endorse a more sweeping bill that would have dramatically increased housing density by allowing multi-unit buildings on land previously reserved for single-family homes. That bill died.

During the coronavirus pandemic, housing policy took a backseat in the Legislature. For the most part, lawmakers did not pass sweeping housing legislation in 2020.

Through the state budget, Newsom and lawmakers added $1.75 billion to boost housing construction in 2019. This year, they added another $10 billion to boost production.

Newsom sued Huntington Beach in 2019, forcing the city to identify new sites to build housing for low-income people, and has threatened to also sue other cities that fail to meet building targets outlined in state law. Through the state’s housing department, Newsom is also pushing local California governments to plan for more housing.

Despite those actions, housing production has stayed relatively flat. In the five years before Newsom took office, California permitted about 102,000 housing units per year on average, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. In 2019, Newsom’s first year in office, the state permitted about 110,000 units. In 2020, about 106,000. This year, the state is permitting housing units at roughly the same rate, with about 49,000 units permitted in the first five months of the year.

To meet Newsom’s goal, California would need to be building about 500,000 units per year.

Status: Behind schedule

On the campaign trail, Newsom promised to address homelessness in California. He pledged to appoint a cabinet-level secretary to work on the issue, incentivize local governments to build more supportive housing and help communities enroll more homeless people in a federal disability program that provides a monthly stipend.

What he’s doing: Newsom and lawmakers have poured an unprecedented amount of money into combatting homelessness. In 2019, they allocated $1 billion for shelters and services aimed at getting people off the streets, and also added funding to help homeless people apply for federal disability benefits. He and lawmakers far outstripped that spending in the 2021-22 budget enacted in July, which includes $12 billion in homeless aid that will be spent over the next few years.

During the pandemic, Newsom launched two programs aimed at combating homelessness – Project Roomkey and Project Homekey. They secured motel and hotel rooms to provide temporary shelter for 35,000 people and funded construction of 6,000 new homeless housing units.

Newsom initially backed away from his campaign promise to appoint a “cabinet-level secretary” on homelessness, pointing instead to a homelessness task force led by Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. After backlash, he has also said Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly is working on the issue. Newsom also promoted a top aide to focus on housing policy.

Despite Newsom’s actions, homelessness is still rampant. Tracking of homelessness has stalled during the pandemic, but the most recent numbers from January 2020 found California’s homeless population grew by about 10,000 people, bringing the total population to more than 161,000.

Status: In progress, but slow-going

In October, Newsom signed a new law to cap rent increases at 5% plus inflation across the state. It also restricts evictions.

Newsom and other supporters argue it will protect tenants from rent price spikes, while critics say it will stymie housing construction and hurt small landlords. To address some of those concerns, the new law exempts buildings less than 15 years old and single-family homes managed by small property owners.

In the 2019-20 budget, Newsom and lawmakers allocated $20 million to fund grants for nonprofits to provide legal assistance for renters.

During the pandemic, Newsom and lawmakers also enacted an eviction moratorium for people financially harmed by COVID-19 aimed at preventing a wave of people losing their homes because of the coronavirus’ harm to the economy.

Status: Achieved

Newsom vowed to end the use of private prisons and the state’s bail system, arguing they contribute to over-incarceration and advance profits over justice.

What he’s doing: In 2019, Newsom signed a law requiring California to phase out private, for-profit prisons and immigrant detention centers. It prohibits state officials from signing new agreements with private prisons or renewing existing contracts, unless needed to comply with court-ordered population caps. It also bans private immigrant detention centers from operating in California by the time their current contracts with federal immigration authorities expire.

The state has since ended all contracts with private prisons and no longer houses inmates in private facilities, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

In 2018, Newsom co-sponsored a bill to end bail in California, but voters rejected the policy before it could take effect through a referendum on the 2020 ballot. Newsom had said he would “actively” advocate for the policy, but didn’t spend any of his campaign money on the effort. He did only limited campaigning for it and other measures last year because of the pandemic.

Asked if Newsom will continue trying to end bail in California, his spokesman Nathan Click said, “Stay tuned.”

“He still firmly thinks we should change our bail system and that the size of your wallet shouldn’t determine the type of justice you receive,” Click said.

Status on ending private prisons: Achieved

Status on ending bail: Stalled

During his first press conference as governor-elect, Newsom called for “raising the bar” on gun control in the state. A staunch advocate of gun safety measures, such as banning high-capacity magazines and instituting background checks for ammunition, Newsom said he would revisit some bills Gov. Jerry Brown previously rejected.

What he’s doing: Newsom has signed into law several gun control measures that Brown vetoed. They include a ban on buying more than one long gun per month and expansions to the state’s policy that lets people ask a judge to take guns from others they think are dangerous.

Even as Newsom is enacting more gun control laws, gun rights advocates are challenging some of California’s existing regulations in court.

Newsom is supporting Attorney General Rob Bonta in appealing a June ruling by a California judge overturning the state’s longstanding assault weapons ban. The same judge also struck down two policies Newsom championed – the state’s ban on high-capacity magazines and ammunition background check requirements – both of which are also being appealed.

Newsom says California can’t address gun violence through legislation alone. At the start of his term, he blamed then-President Donald Trump and Republicans for a “culture of gun violence” following a shooting in Gilroy, where a gunman killed three people at a food festival.

When California saw another mass shooting in San Jose in May, Newsom avoided blaming President Joe Biden, who hasn’t persuaded Congress to pass the kind of sweeping gun control he advocated when running for president. Newsom avoided calling on specific politicians or endorsing specific policies, instead making a more general plea for the country to take gun violence seriously.

Status: In progress

Newsom called for a universal health care system and endorsed a single-payer bill in 2017 that ultimately failed. That stance won him support from some Democrats and the powerful California Nurses Association, even as he also cited obstacles to developing government-run, universal health coverage at the state level, such as the high cost and need for federal approval.

What he’s doing: Newsom hasn’t called for the Legislature to take up a new single-payer bill. He sent letters to then-President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden seeking permission to pursue a single-payer system in California, but so far the federal government has not approved the request. He also established a commission of experts to evaluate options to achieve universal health care, including the possibility of a single-payer system. He tasked them with producing a report later this year.

Newsom enacted budget legislation that fines California residents who don’t buy insurance. That revenue helps fund subsidies for low- and middle-income people to purchase health plans.

Through the budget, Newsom and lawmakers have also expanded state-funded health coverage for undocumented adults up to age 26 and over age 50.

Status: In progress

Newsom closed his campaign emphasizing the need to expand early childhood education programs. As part of a broader focus on improving preparation and health outcomes during the first three years of a child’s life, he said he wanted to make preschool available to all kids.

What he’s doing: Using a record-breaking surplus, Newsom successfully convinced California lawmakers to add a new grade to public schools called transitional kindergarten for all 4-year-olds. The Newsom administration estimates transitional kindergarten will cost $2.7 billion per year by 2025 when the program is fully implemented. Through the state budget, Newsom and lawmakers have also added funding for child care slots and provider pay increases, which they say will also improve early education in the state.

Status: Achieved

Amid the devastating wildfires of 2018, Newsom said California must rethink its land management strategies, remove dead trees, increase funding for fire departments, invest in a statewide weather monitoring system, install a network of early warning cameras and more aggressively reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.

What he’s doing: After the 2018 Camp Fire, the deadliest blaze in California history that drove PG&E into bankruptcy, Newsom convinced lawmakers to create a $21 billion fund to pay future wildfire costs and force utilities to upgrade the safety of their electrical equipment. Ratepayers and shareholders of the state’s major utilities both pay into the fund.

Newsom also declared a statewide emergency to fast-track tree clearing and other forest management work by exempting such projects from some environmental review. He touted the completion of 35 fire break projects to protect vulnerable communities, but an investigation by Capital Public Radio found those projects were dramatically scaled back from what Newsom originally promised.

Through the state budget, Newsom and lawmakers provided funding to hire hundreds of additional firefighters and buy new firefighting helicopters, air tankers, fire engines and blaze-monitoring equipment. Newsom also moved some National Guard troops from the Mexican border to assist with firefighting.

Newsom and lawmakers also approved money to retrofit homes for fire resiliency after he cited a McClatchy investigation that found homes built to modern fire standards were far more likely to survive the Camp Fire.

In 2020, a record 4.6 million acres burned in California. But the state has seen far fewer fire deaths each year since Newsom took office than in 2018, when 100 people died, according to state statistics.

Newsom has blamed the state’s worsening fire seasons on climate change. To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Newsom set a new goal to phase out sales of new gas-powered cars in California by 2035, and vowed to reach carbon neutrality before the state’s 2045 goal.

Status: In progress

In the Central Valley, where fewer residents have college degrees than in other parts of the state, Newsom campaigned on boosting apprenticeships to help workers get jobs in a rapidly changing economy. He proposed partnering with community colleges and businesses to create half a million apprenticeships over the next decade in growing fields like advanced manufacturing, health services and information technology.

What he's doing: The budget includes $165 million over five years (about $33 million per year) for workforce development projects called for under California’s cap-and-trade law, which Newsom’s predecessor Jerry Brown signed into law in 2017. The spending will come from money raised by the cap-and-trade program, which makes companies pay to pollute. Newsom’s Department of Finance estimates these programs will train about 5,100 people for apprenticeships and other jobs, far short of Newsom’s stated goal.

Status: In progress<.p>

Aiming to help poor California families, Newsom proposed expanding the state’s earned income tax credit, a refund for the working poor. About 1.3 million households received nearly $300 million in credits on their 2017 earnings, according to the Franchise Tax Board.

What he’s doing: Newsom’s first budget makes about 3 million California families eligible for the state’s earned income tax credit, which can give households up to $2,559 per year. It raises the income level to qualify for the credit to $30,000. Families with children under the age of 6 will be eligible for an extra $1,000 credit. He’s paying for the expansion with administrative changes to comply with the 2017 federal tax overhaul that would have some Californians paying more state tax. In 2020, Newsom also signed legislation that allows undocumented Californians to get the tax credit, too

Status: Achieved<.p>