Big lobbying group lets CA counties (like Santa Clara) continue to avoid responsibilities re: homelessness crisis

A proposed bill backed by SJ Mayor Mahan and Sen. Blakespear that would've required counties to step up and help pay for and run homelessness shelters got derailed by powerful status quo lobbies, who ask for "more discussion" while kicking the can down the road for another decade. Axios reports.

[Summary:] A state bill that would have forced California counties to cover half the cost that cities pay to run interim housing and homeless shelter operations has been scrapped and reworked.

Why it matters: The bill, from state Sen. Catherine Blakespear (D-Encinitas), waded into an ongoing dispute between cities and counties over their roles in solving the state's homelessness crisis.

Driving the news: Blakespear gutted and rewrote the bill this week, as she told Politico, killing its financial mandate on counties.

• It now instead calls for the state's housing department to work with local governments to create a financial plan to end chronic homelessness in 10 years. {Editor's note: Ten years? Some crisis.}

• The dramatically altered version of the bill passed the Senate's housing committee this week.

Go Deeper:

• New SJ budget marks the end of Housing First? Unlikely, say local commentators (3/4)
• High-capacity shelter concept moving forward at SJ City Council
• Long-term nesters overwhelm SF's temporary housing

Between the lines: The California State Association of Counties lobbied against the legislation, arguing it effectively gave cities control over county budgets, but formally removed its opposition after the changes.

What they're saying: "Counties are ready to comprehensively address the homelessness crisis by addressing the two fundamental problems with the current broken system: clear responsibilities for each level of government — state, city and county — and reliable funding so local governments can follow through on what they start," said Graham Knaus, CEO of the CSAC. {Editors' note: This is how technocrats think: the homelessness problem is an organizational problem at the gov't level. Um, how about mental health, addiction, and unaffordable rents?}

• "We're working with elected officials in both parties at the state and local levels to identify real solutions." {Editors' note: Real solutions have been on the table for years, but Permanent Supportive Housing orthodoxy stopped good ideas from being  implemented.}

Zoom out: Blakespear put the bill together with San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, who said it was needed to make sure counties do their fair share and to encourage cities to open shelters.

• The dispute between cities and counties over homelessness has been especially acute in San Diego, with Mayor Todd Gloria, during his State of the City speech, encouraging residents to blame the county when they see someone on the street suffering from severe mental illness or addiction.

Read the whole thing here.

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