The California Big City Mayors coalition, chaired by San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, Wednesday called on Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders to include state budget funding for the Homeless Housing Assistance and Prevention program.

“Our message is simple: Without HHAP, homeless shelters will be shuttered, safe parking lots will close, outreach workers will be gone, and unsafe and unsanitary tent encampments will proliferate on our sidewalks and in our parks,” Gloria said. “The programs we’ve created with this state funding have helped tens of thousands of people get off the street and connected to care and housing. We are making progress on this crisis, and now is not the time to take our foot off the gas.”

Newsom’s initial Fiscal Year 2025 budget did not include HHAP funding, but legislators can still add it to the spending plan through negotiating with the governor before a final vote in June.

The call to Sacramento comes the same day San Diego’s Regional Task Force on Homelessness released its 2024 Point-in-Time count, finding at least a 3% increase in the number of San Diegans experiencing homelessness countywide and an 18% increase of those without stable shelter.

“Homelessness remains California’s number one issue,” said Bakersfield Mayor Karen Goh. “Mayors have underscored its gravity, our residents trumpet this crisis daily, and the streets of California cry out with the pain of thousands. HHAP funding has changed the futures of our cities’ most vulnerable.”

Since 2018, California has provided funding for homelessness programs in municipalities and county governments beginning with one year of funding for the Homeless Emergency Aid Program and continuing with five rounds of funding for HHAP.

In April, the Big City Mayors released a report detailing the number of new shelter beds and interim homes that cities have added with these funds statewide, including:

  • 15,722 new emergency shelter beds and interim homes created
  • 149,851 people served
  • 42,215 people placed into a housing intervention

Meanwhile, the city of San Diego is undergoing its own budget process, reflecting a $172 million deficit. However, Gloria says the city’s homelessness prevention programs will be protected from any cuts this year.

City News Service contributed to this article.