Special to the Vanguard
San Jose, CA – Senator Dave Cortese on Friday issued a terse statement after the California Assembly Appropriations Committee blockage of his Senate Bill 333 (SB 33).
“We can’t keep graduating more than 15,000 students each year into our streets, creeks and parks. As part of our state’s budget, we invested more than $24 billion to combat the lack of affordable housing and increasingly rampant homelessness we see daily out in our streets, and yet, my colleagues on the Assembly Appropriations Committee still failed thousands of young people across the state by holding my SB 333 back,” said Senator Cortese.
The Senator explained that SB 333 would have created funds that would have provided “a critically needed lifeline for many at-risk or current youth experiencing homelessness by providing them temporarily with a guaranteed basic income.”
Instead, he said, “my colleagues made a choice to defer our youths’ dreams at a better life for another year. I vow to continue championing guaranteed basic income measures such as SB 333 to prevent our most vulnerable youth from graduating into a life sentence of homelessness and poverty.”
Senator Cortese was joined by the Economic Security California Action organization.
“A guaranteed income is a lifeline, and a pathway to a brighter future. For the more than 15,000 graduating seniors experiencing homelessness each year in California, a few $1,000 checks would come at a pivotal transition, and help them break the cycle of housing insecurity,” said Teri Olle, Director of Economic Security California Action.
SB 333 aims to establish the California Success, Opportunity and Academic Resilience (CalSOAR) program within the state’s Department of Social Services. Specifically, it would provide direct cash assistance to an estimated 15,307 exiting 12th-grade students across the state who are at-risk or are experiencing homelessness.
These youth would receive a monthly stipend for four months beginning May 1, 2025 to support their transition out of high school. The bill would better equip these youth with either accessing employment or a postsecondary education.
“This legislation is not just an investment in individual students, but in the future of our state, ensuring young adults have the economic stability necessary to successfully transition to college or the workforce. We will proudly fight alongside advocates and allies next year to introduce, and finally pass, this important legislation,” Olle added.
