FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
May 29, 2024

CONTACT:
MayorPress@sandiego.gov

SAN DIEGO – Mayor Todd Gloria, chair of the California Big City Mayors coalition, issued the following statement today after the leaders of the state Senate and Assembly announced that they have agreed to include a sixth round of funding for the Homeless Housing Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) program in their joint legislative budget proposal:

“Today’s announcement about the inclusion of $1 billion in HHAP 6 funds and the restoration of Regional Early Action Planning (REAP) funds in the Assembly and Senate’s Fiscal Year 2025 budget agreement has brought a sigh of relief to our coalition of mayors whose cities who rely on this funding to get homeless Californians off the streets and into permanent housing.

“Homelessness is by far the most pressing issue facing communities up and down California, and the money the state has invested in helping cities solve it through HHAP has greatly improved our ability to help get unhoused people off our streets. To date, HHAP has allowed California’s 13 biggest cities to create more than 15,000 shelter beds, serve 150,000 unhoused residents, and move more than 42,000 people into temporary or permanent housing. The Big City Mayors have said loud and clear that, without the continuation of HHAP funding, this progress would come to a halt.

"I want to thank Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and Senate President pro Tempore Mike McGuire for their extraordinary leadership in restoring this funding to help our communities maintain and expand shelter opportunities for vulnerable Californians amid this tough fiscal climate. We look forward to working with our partners in the Legislature and Governor Newsom to get this budget across the finish line so we can continue to build on our progress and create a future where homelessness in the Golden State is rare, brief and non-recurring.”

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About Big City Mayors 

The Big City Mayors is a coalition of mayors from California’s 13 largest cities with populations of more than 300,000. Member cities include Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, Fresno, Sacramento, Long Beach, Oakland, Bakersfield, Anaheim, Stockton, Riverside, and Irvine.