Economics

California’s Newsom Touts Record Homeless Aid Ahead of Recall

  • Newsom signs $12 billion, two-year package to ease crisis
  • Democrat’s would-be replacements have said he failed on issue
Gavin NewsomPhotographer: Rich Pedroncelli/AP/Bloomberg
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California Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation allocating an unprecedented $12 billion over two years to address homelessness, a highly visible problem that his opponents are seizing upon in the recall election.

Speaking at an event in Sonoma County on Monday, the first-term Democrat touted the investment as the largest-ever response to the state’s crisis, with funds aimed at building new housing units and cleaning up city streets and freeways. More than a quarter of the nation’s homeless population lives in California, with most of them living outdoors rather than in shelters.