After days of uncertainty, the results are finally in: Californians, by a slim majority, have voted to throw their support behind Gov. Gavin Newsom’s latest effort to overhaul how the state cares for people with serious mental illness.
The Associated Press on Wednesday declared that Proposition 1 passed by the narrowest of margins, 50.2% to 49.8%.
The passage of the two-pronged ballot measure will give Newsom funds to fulfill promises he has made while rolling out a series of other mental health policies in recent years – more housing, more treatment beds and a concerted focus on unhoused people with serious mental illnesses.
But it leaves the governor’s critics — including disability rights advocates and individuals living with mental illness — worried about cuts to other mental health programs and fearful it will result in the state placing more people in involuntary treatment.
The governor championed Prop. 1, which he has said “will help California make good on promises made decades ago.”
The initiative includes a $6.4 billion bond to pay for treatment beds and permanent supportive housing. It also requires that counties spend more of the mental health funds they receive from a special tax on income over $1 million on services for people who are chronically homeless.
While the ballot measure initially seemed a shoo-in, public support wavered in recent months. In part, that’s because the state’s ballooning deficit came into stark focus — with the Legislative Analyst’s Office projecting last month that it might be as big as $73 billion. Opponents of the ballot measure had also raised concerns that it could siphon money from…
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