Senator Melissa Hurtado Leads Budget Panel Oversight Hearing on California Homeless Programs

Hurtado urges focus and seriousness to address the challenge of homelessness in California communities

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Bakersfield) today led a bipartisan Senate Budget Subcommittee hearing in an examination of the state of homelessness in California and how state departments are implementing homeless programs and spending public dollars to address homelessness in California.

“It’s encouraging that our state departments are reporting progress on reducing homelessness, but our communities expect and deserve results that people can see with their own eyes,” Senator Hurtado said. “In the coming months, I will work with my colleagues to ensure that the massive investments made by California taxpayers to reduce homelessness don’t go to waste.”

In December, Senator Hurtado was named Chairperson of the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 4 – the Senate budget subcommittee that oversees state administration and general government. Included in its jurisdiction are the executive branch departments that oversee homeless programs – the Department of Housing and Community Development and the Interagency Council on Homelessness.

During Thursday’s hearing, the bipartisan panel heard from state officials who manage homeless programs as well as local officials, who testified about the status of state investments into local homeless projects and programs and also the impacts of recent reductions in state money – most notably the reduced state funding from the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) Grant Program.

Among the local officials who testified were: Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee; Amina Flores-Becker, the Deputy County Administrator for Fresno County; Darla Merlin, Tuolumne M-Wuk Tribal Council member and grants coordinator; and Laurel Weir, the principal administrative manager of San Luis Obispo’s Homeless Services Division within its Department of Social Services.

Senator Melissa Hurtado is Chair of Senate Budget Subcommittee #4 on State Administration and General Government and currently represents the 16th Senate District in the California Legislature, which includes portions of Fresno, Tulare, Kings and Kern Counties.

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