SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom issued the following statement today after a virtual meeting with U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Marcia L. Fudge for the launch of House America, a national partnership led by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness that brings state and local leaders together to leverage the American Rescue Plan Act to address the homelessness crisis.

“President Biden is deeply committed to tackling the housing and homelessness crisis that has plagued our nation for decades. The Biden-Harris Administration and leaders like Secretary Fudge understand that it is unacceptable to have Americans living on the street, and that we need significant investments in housing and services, along with the political will to move quickly.

“California is dedicated to doing our part toward this national goal. California has committed an unprecedented $22 billion investment for housing and homelessness as part of my California Comeback Plan, which includes additional funding from the American Rescue Plan. California will build more than 84,000 new affordable homes for Californians, including 44,000 new housing units and treatment beds for people exiting homelessness. California will account for one-third of the housing created as part of House America’s initiative to re-house at least 100,000 households experiencing homelessness.

“The American Rescue Plan also bolstered California’s ability to fund much-needed continuum of care and community services. The California Comeback Plan invests $3 billion to create 22,000 treatment beds to improve our state’s behavioral health system, which has been underfunded and overlooked for decades. In California, we’re not settling for the old way of addressing housing and homelessness – we are demanding greater accountability and more urgency to create housing and get people off the streets. We are extremely grateful to have a partner in the federal government working toward these same goals.”

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