SACRAMENTO — A proposal to provide guaranteed income to homeless high school seniors to help them transition into college or employment cleared its first legislative hurdle Tuesday with bipartisan support. Senate Bill 33, authored by State Senator Dave Cortese (D-Silicon Valley), passed the Senate Education Committee this week on a 6-1 vote and now heads to the Senate Human Services Committee.
The bill would create a statewide pilot program — the California Success, Opportunity & Academic Resilience (SOAR) Guaranteed Income Program — providing eligible students with $1,000 per month in direct cash assistance for three months following their high school graduation. The program is designed to prevent youth homelessness and give students a bridge to higher education or the workforce.
“More than 270,000 students in California’s K-12 system experience homelessness, a number that has risen by 48 percent in the past decade,” Senator Cortese said during Tuesday’s hearing. “This bill is about stopping the pipeline of high school graduates directly into adult street homelessness. It gives these students a fighting chance.”
Approximately 17,000 homeless students are currently enrolled in 12th grade in California — a figure that has increased by about 2,000 since the Legislature last considered similar legislation, Cortese noted.
The committee heard compelling testimony from advocates and program leaders, including Jeneses Watson, a participant in United Way’s Collegiate Guaranteed Income Program for former foster youth. Watson shared how receiving guaranteed income changed the trajectory of her life.
“Before this support, I was constantly overwhelmed trying to survive while balancing school and two jobs just to cover basic expenses,” Watson said. “This guaranteed income gave me breathing room for the first time in my life. It allowed me to fix my credit, pay bills, and take more classes without the crushing pressure of nonstop work. Now, I’m on track to graduate this year — something that felt impossible a year ago.”
The California SOAR pilot program would run from May 1, 2026, through August 1, 2026, with oversight from the California Department of Social Services. The department would also be tasked with tracking the program’s impact on student employment and educational attainment.
Melanie Jimenez Perez, who manages Santa Clara County’s existing guaranteed income pilot — an initiative launched by then-County Supervisor Cortese — also testified in support of the bill. Joining her were Mona Masari from Economic Security CA Action and other advocates who described the urgent need for the program, especially as homelessness continues to grow among California students.
In Santa Clara County alone, 5,000 students experienced homelessness during the 2023-2024 school year — an increase of 500 students from the prior year, according to the California Department of Education.
If the bill becomes law, the Cal SOAR pilot would mark one of the first statewide guaranteed income programs in the country aimed specifically at preventing homelessness among young people transitioning out of the K-12 school system.
Senator Cortese said the stakes are too high to ignore.
“Every year, thousands of students graduate with a diploma but nowhere to go,” he said. “This program offers them a pathway forward — toward stability, opportunity, and resilience.”
