North Sacramento Today

Assemblyman Josh Hoover (R-Folsom) expressed his concerns after an oversight hearing on homelessness in Assembly Budget Subcommittee 7. Hoover criticized the lack of accountability in California's use of $24 billion in taxpayer money for homelessness programs. He emphasized the need for more transparency and data collection.

"Today’s oversight hearing shined a light on a very troubling reality. After spending $24 billion taxpayer dollars on homelessness, our lead agencies in California have no idea where the money has gone or how many people it has helped. This is a complete failure of leadership by Governor Newsom and it’s time for the Legislature to demand more accountability."

Assemblyman Hoover highlighted the admission by representatives from the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) and the Interagency Council on Homelessness (ICH) that they lack data on existing homelessness programs and investments. He criticized their request for additional funds to improve transparency, deeming it unacceptable.

In response to these issues, Hoover introduced AB 2903, aiming to mandate state-run homelessness programs to report cost and outcome data annually to ICH. The bill also seeks to establish standardized procedures for data collection and public reporting. This proposal aligns with recommendations from the California State Auditor, following an audit prompted by Assemblyman Hoover, which revealed significant shortcomings in tracking homelessness spending and assessing outcomes.

The State Auditor's findings indicated that California has allocated nearly $24 billion since 2018 to address homelessness, despite a 32% increase in the state's homeless population during the same period. California now harbors half of the unsheltered homeless population in the United States.

Assemblyman Josh Hoover represents Assembly District 7, encompassing various cities and communities in California.###