Morning Report: Newsom Pumps the Brakes on Homelessness Funding
EM - News Moderator 
During Gov. Gavin Newsom’s final annual address to the Legislature this week, he announced that the state’s principal homelessness program will get $500 million.
That’s half the $1 billion that has been allocated for the program annually since 2019, reports our Nadia Lathan, except for this year when it was gutted completely.
Service providers were disappointed by the news. Newsom previously suggested he needs to see more results before committing more dollars.
But Mayor Todd Gloria is pushing hard to get that cash. He was in Sacramento last week rallying lawmakers to support restoring the funding, Lathan writes.
Read more in the Sacramento Report here.
Related: Gloria is giving his State of the City address this week. We’ll have more deets and a summary for you later this week.
Last year, he gave his speech from City Hall and declared that this was the “era of austerity” as city leaders faced a $350 million budget deficit. Our Mariana Martínez Barba looked out how the mayor’s plans to “right-size” the ship turned out in 2025.
VOSD Podcast: How About Them Parking Fees?
Our podcast crew is back for the new year, and boy has it been a busy controversial week for parking. The city of San Diego rolled out its parking program in Balboa Park last week and backlash from the public and City Council was swift.
While some councilmembers wanted the mayor to suspend the fees, he said that wasn’t an option. It all went down in a memo war. The crew digs explains what this means for the city’s budget.
Also on the podcast, the latest on the legal debacle between the city and people living in their RVs in Mission Bay. The city opened a safe parking lot, H Barracks, in May that would allow police to start ticketing vehicle dwellers in the area. But some people say H Barracks isn’t a viable option for everyone.
In Other News
- Fundraising for San Diego City Council races is kicking into high gear, with seats up for grabs in Districts 2 and 8. The possible entry of former Coronado Mayor Richard Bailey could shake things up in District 2. (Union-Tribune)
- Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Program, and other homelessness programs are facing big cuts this year. San Diegans who rely on food assistance, and immigrants who can no longer qualify for the state’s low-cost insurance could be some of the hardest hit. (inewsource)
- Unemployment across the region went down in November after holiday retail hiring brought the unemployment rate down from 4.9 percent to 4.6 percent. (Union-Tribune)
The Morning Report was written by Mariana Martínez Barba. It was edited by Andrea Sanchez-Villafaña.
The post Morning Report: Newsom Pumps the Brakes on Homelessness Funding appeared first on Voice of San Diego.
