Governor Newsom Presents Proposed State Budget

Several Proposals Aimed at Housing and Housing Discrimination

At a press conference on January 10, 2023, Governor Newsom presented highlights of the State’s budget for the 2023 / 24 fiscal year. Because of severe rainstorms in California and declared states of emergency, the Governor provided an abbreviated presentation of his budget proposals. 

Governor Newsom began by stating that tax revenues generated from capitol gains are budgeted at about half of what they were last year (last year, capital gains taxes were approximately 9.7% of State revenues, and have been budgeted to be lower for the upcoming fiscal year at 5.52% of State revenues).  Accordingly, the Governor has projected a budget shortfall of approximately $22.5 billion, which he stated was a lower deficit than originally determined by the State’s Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO).  

Later that same day, during a meeting of the Business Consumer Services Housing Agency, the following housing related items contained in the Governor’s proposed budget were outlined:

• Business Consumer Services Housing Agency Secretary, Lourdes Castro-Ramirez, highlighted that there is additional funding and resources in the budget are being provided to ensure Section 8 housing protection, fair housing testing, and investigation of housing complaints.
• Deputy Secretary, Sasha Kergan, discussed funding for “Project Home-key,” which is a program to prevent homelessness.
• Castro-Ramirez and Mr. Kergan discussed that the proposed budget includes approximately $1 billion allocated for the 5^th round of funding for the State’s Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) Grant Program. HHAP is a grant that provides local jurisdictions with funds to support regional coordination and expand or develop local capacity to address their immediate homelessness challenges.
• Corrin Buchanan with the California Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) overviewed two rent subsidy proposals. One would provide a Medicaid waiver, which will require federal approval, and would allow the State’s Medical Program through California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) to provide up to six months of rent assistance as additional care support.  The budgeted amount for this proposal is $17.9 million increasing to $116 million at full implementation.  The second rent subsidy, which would be through the California Behavioral Health Program, would facilitate a Department of Healthcare Services (DHCS) waiver to focus on, among other at risk persons, children.  This waiver would allow counties to provide rent assistance for up to six months.  They are currently working through U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and it was discussed during the meeting that further details are forthcoming.
• Kevin Kish with the Civil Rights Department emphasized that funding proposed for addressing Section 8 discrimination will be targeted at discriminatory rental housing online advertising and investigating complaints of discrimination against Section 8 voucher holders.