Governor Gavin Newsom signed a 2025 state budget that includes CEQA reforms to speed up housing development, which is seen as a crucial policy shift in modern California history.
AB 690, a bill aimed at ending the use of privatized flat-fee contracts for indigent defense services in California, has passed the Senate Public Safety Committee and now heads to the Senate Appropriations Committee, with supporters arguing that it would improve justice outcomes and save counties money over time.
California lawmakers have eliminated new funding for the HHAP program in fiscal year 2025–26, potentially halting progress in addressing homelessness and forcing local governments to scale back services and programs.
Governor Newsom’s May Revision budget proposal includes reforms to CEQA to cut bureaucratic red tape on housing development, but counties are frustrated with the lack of additional homelessness funding.
Proposition 36, a crime and drug treatment initiative passed by California voters, has been met with resistance from Governor Gavin Newsom, who is refusing to allocate new state funding for the measure, citing a budget shortfall and the need for local governments to step up and fund it.