California Gov. Newsom Signs Order for Homeless Encampment Clearances

Facts

• On Thursday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order instructing state agencies to clear unsafe homeless encampments authorizing local governments to use state resources to remove the encampments with 'urgency and humanity.'^[1]
• On June 28, the US Supreme Court ruled that it's constitutional for governments to enforce outdoor sleeping bans and other measures against homeless encampments and overturned restrictions the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals placed on such laws.^[2]
• State agencies must now adopt the California Dept. of Transportation (Caltrans) protocol for removing encampments and connecting residents to community supports, with a focus on clearing those that pose a risk to health and safety.^[2]
• California has the US's largest homeless population, estimated at 180K in 2023. According to official figures, a total of 653.1K people were estimated to be homeless across the country — an increase of around 12% since 2022.^[3]
• Caltrans cleared 11K encampments since 2021 along highways and other infrastructure, and typically clears camps after giving 48 hours' notice. Newsom devoted $24B to anti-encampment measures, which included using hotel space for temporary sheltering.^[4]
• In 2017, Newsom pledged to build 3.5M housing units, with permits only being granted to meet 13% of that goal thus far.^[5]

Sources: ^[1]Axios, ^[2]New York Times, ^[3]CNN, ^[4]Los Angeles Times and ^[5]LAist.

Narratives

• Left narrative, as provided by Common Dreams. Empowered by a wrongheaded and callous decision by SCOTUS, Newsom has taken the least humane and most ineffective route to address the crisis of homelessness. California is facing a housing crisis that lies at the root cause of homelessness, and Newsom has failed to make meaningful progress toward improving the housing situation in the state.
• Right narrative, as provided by Daily Wire. Progressive judges had hamstrung any attempts made to keep people off the streets, with even mainstream Democrat leaders crying out for change. Now that legal obstacles to tackling homelessness have been removed, there are no excuses for not taking swift action against encampments. With time, and stomach to face the activist class, the crisis of homelessness can actually be solved — Newsom has been dragged to do the right thing.

Predictions