FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                 
December 6, 2023        

SACRAMENTO, CA – The California Business Roundtable today announced it supports Proposition 1, Governor Newsom’s $6.38 billion bond measure to build 10,000 new community behavioral health beds and housing to provide care to Californians of all ages with serious mental health and substance use disorders.  

“The California Business Roundtable strongly supports Proposition 1 as part of a comprehensive policy approach to addressing the homelessness crisis in California. We strongly support the governor’s priorities for transparency and accountability that are built into this measure, ensuring that existing and future revenue dedicated to supporting homelessness solutions goes to its intended purpose and is not diverted to other programs,” said Rob Lapsley, President of the California Business Roundtable. “Between federal, state, county, and city resources, billions of dollars are currently being spent to address the homelessness crisis. Yet all statewide research reflects that Californians believe that the streets are only getting worse in many communities. Increased accountability is essential, and we support the Governor in making this a priority to hold local governments to actual metrics along with the emphasis on a higher level of spending transparency in this bond.” 

Over the past several years, homelessness has become a growing issue for the business community as they have been the victims of increased crime and violence from those suffering from mental and substance abuse.  As part of its commitment, the Business Roundtable Board has consistently supported the Governor’s one-time budget funding proposals to help address the homelessness crisis. The Governor’s leadership on Prop. 1 is the next step in addressing this crisis. 

“Prop. 1 must bring much-needed community behavioral health beds and housing to provide care to Californians of all ages with serious mental health and substance use disorders,” added Lapsley. “The statewide business community must work together to ensure California passes this critical measure.”

CBRT has supported Governor Newsom and his administration to address the homelessness crisis by:

• Proudly supporting requests from local governments to use budget surpluses to provide much-needed funding to address the crisis
• Supporting the Governor’s proposal to form CARE courts
   

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