Newsom’s Prop. 1 Campaign Raises $26 Million, Promises to Tackle California’s Homelessness

Some counties say it might make the problem worse.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks about mental health crisis before signing off on two major pieces of legislation to transform the state's mental health system and to address the state's worsening homelessness crisis in Los Angeles on Oct. 12, 2023. Damian Dovarganes/AP Photo

Propelled by $26 million in donations, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Proposition 1 promises a long-overdue modernization of how California funds its mental health system. Voters will decide March 5 whether to approve the two-part measure, authorizing $6.4 billion in bonds and reallocating an existing wealth tax revenue for treatment beds and supportive housing.

Prop. 1 is the only statewide measure on the ballot, and by last week had amassed $16 million in donations. By March 1, another $10 million rolled in, according to the California Secretary of State’s website. Opponents of the measure have raised $1,000.