California’s governor vetoed legislation that would have let cities use state dollars for abstinence‑focused recovery housing. The decision keeps state homelessness funds tied to Housing First programs that do not condition housing on sobriety. It signals continued state resistance to funding sober‑required models amid rising debates over addiction, treatment, and street disorder.
— This sharpens a national policy divide over whether public funds should back abstinence‑based housing, shaping how states tackle homelessness and addiction outcomes.
Keith Humphreys
2026.03.30
75% relevant
The article highlights a policy conflict with California Governor Gavin Newsom’s Housing First posture, noting San Francisco and San Jose departing from that approach by tying housing to abstinence or treatment — a concrete instance of the tension captured by the existing idea about Housing First orthodoxy and its political defense.
2025.10.09
100% relevant
Gavin Newsom’s veto of a bill allowing abstinence‑focused housing to receive a portion of state homelessness funding.
Keith Humphreys
2025.10.08
95% relevant
The article reports Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have allowed jurisdictions to spend up to 10% of state homelessness funds on abstinence‑based recovery housing, keeping California’s 2016 Housing First requirement intact despite overdose deaths in Housing First sites and evidence for recovery housing among addicted homeless without serious mental illness.