Gov. Gavin Newsom celebrated the passage of Prop. 1 at a Downtown L.A. press conference on Tuesday, March 21, after tense weeks during which his $6.4 billion mental-health bond measure teetered dangerously close to failure.
Having narrowly escaped political disaster, Newsom was thrilled with his narrow victory.
“I’ve never been associated with something I’m more proud of” Newsom said, adding that now is the time to deliver on his vision to fix the broken mental health system and get people off the streets.
“People are exhausted with the promises,” he said. “They want to see results, they want to see programs stood up, they want them done cost efficiently, they want them done in a way that actually produces outcomes.”
“I hear you loudly and clearly.”
Prop. 1 will direct $4.4 billion to create 10,000 new mental health beds and $2 billion for homeless housing projects, half of which will be reserved for veterans with mental illness or substance use issues.
It will also require that counties spend 30% of revenue from the Mental Health Services Act on housing. This voter approved act raises between $2 billion and $3.5 billion a year through a 1% tax on incomes greater than $1 million.
Opposition group Californians Against Prop. 1 issued a statement on Monday evening responding to news that the Associated Press had called the election in favor of Prop. 1. As of Tuesday morning’s vote update, the measure was favored by 50.2% of voters and opposed by 49.8%.
“Prop. 1 is not a ‘huge’ win for Gov. Newsom. It’s an embarrassing squeaker of a victory that contains a strong warning,” stated the opposition group. “Prop. 1 could be a humanitarian disaster if it is not well managed. The incredibly narrow approval of Prop. 1 is the voters saying ‘do not let that happen’.”
Opponents fear that changes to Mental Health Services Act funding will cause cuts to successful mental health services and ultimately increase the number of people…
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