California governor vows to take away funding from cities and counties for not clearing encampments

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday had a message for local governments: clean up homeless encampments now or lose out on state funding next year.

Standing in front of a cleared homeless encampment in Los Angeles, Newsom vowed to start taking state funding away from cities and counties that are not doing enough to move people out of encampments and into shelter. The governor joined the California Department of Transportation, known as Caltrans, on Thursday to clear several encampment sites in the area.

“I want to see results,” Newsom told reporters at a news conference. “I don’t want to read about them. I don’t want to see the data. I want to see it.”

Thursday’s announcement was part of Newsom’s escalating campaign to push local governments into doing more homeless encampment sweeps. Newsom last month ordered state agencies to start clearing encampments on state land. He also pressured local government to do the same, though he cannot legally force them to act.

The executive order came after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling that said governments could not force people to leave encampments if there weren’t any shelter beds available. Newsom’s administration wrote in support of cities’ arguments that previous rulings, including one that barred San Francisco from clearing encampments, have prevented the state from solving a critical problem.

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