Bill Text: CA SCR131 | 2025-2026 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Housing: unsheltered homelessness.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 20)
Status: (Engrossed) 2026-06-25 - From committee: Be adopted as amended. (Ayes 10. Noes 0.) (June 24). [SCR131 Detail]
Download: California-2025-SCR131-Amended.html
|
Amended
IN
Senate
April 06, 2026 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION
Senate Concurrent Resolution
No. 131
| Introduced by Senator Blakespear (Coauthors: Senators Allen, Archuleta, Arreguín, Becker, Caballero, Cortese, Grayson, Hurtado, McGuire, McNerney, Menjivar, Padilla, Reyes, Richardson, Rubio, Stern, Umberg, Weber Pierson, and Wiener) |
February 19, 2026 |
Relative to housing.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SCR 131, as amended, Blakespear.
Housing: functional zero Housing: unsheltered homelessness.
This measure would urge the Governor, relevant state agencies, and all local governments to adopt an urgent and coordinated approach to achieving functional zero end and prevent unsheltered homelessness statewide, as specified.
Digest Key
Fiscal Committee: NOBill Text
WHEREAS, It is the duty of the State of California to protect the health and welfare of all its residents, including those experiencing homelessness; and
WHEREAS, More than 123,000 Californians sleep unsheltered each night on sidewalks, in public parks, under freeway overpasses, and in riverbeds with no access to privacy, safety, or sanitation; and
WHEREAS, The longer a person remains unsheltered, the more difficult it becomes for them to stabilize and enter permanent housing, and the more likely they are to suffer preventable illness, trauma, or death; and
WHEREAS, Over 50,000 people in the United States have died while living unsheltered on the streets in the past decade, a moral failing that must not be normalized or accepted; and
WHEREAS, Unsheltered homelessness is not only an individual tragedy but a public policy crisis that undermines community well-being, burdens local government, and erodes public trust in the effectiveness of state and local institutions; and
WHEREAS, It is the role of government not only to protect but to uplift—to act urgently on behalf of the most vulnerable, especially when they struggle to care for themselves; and
WHEREAS, The government must expand its definition of acceptable homeless-serving housing to include safe, stable, and immediately available interim housing solutions, such as temporary sleeping cabins and modular units that offer privacy, security, and onsite services; and
WHEREAS, These cost-effective, quick-build solutions can be constructed at a pace that meets the urgency of the crisis, often within months instead of years; and
WHEREAS, The widespread adoption of those interim solutions would ensure that our streets are no longer the waiting room for permanent housing, but a point of transition to safety, dignity, and progress; and
WHEREAS, Land is available and must be activated, including vacant lots, parking areas, and publicly owned parcels across every city and county in California to meet this moment with the seriousness it demands; and
WHEREAS, The Interagency Council on Homelessness set a statewide goal in their Action Plan for Preventing and Ending Homelessness to increase the annual percentage of people who move into emergency shelter, interim housing, or permanent housing after experiencing unsheltered homelessness from 42 percent to 70 percent by 2027, with the ultimate goal of ensuring everyone experiencing unsheltered homelessness enters emergency shelter, interim housing, or permanent housing with a pathway to permanent housing; and
WHEREAS, The goal above cannot be reached without scaling up state investments for flexible funding, such as the Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention program, to pair with other state, federal, and local funding that serves people experiencing unsheltered homelessness; and
WHEREAS, State, regional, and local governments must coordinate limited resources to fund long-term and interim solutions to ensure that our streets are no longer the landing place for people experiencing housing insecurity; and
WHEREAS, Achieving functional zero unsheltered homelessness Ending and preventing unsheltered homelessness is an urgent necessity that requires alignment of state state, regional, and local funding, legal authority, and accountability systems; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring, That the Legislature urges the Governor, relevant state agencies, and all local governments to adopt an urgent and coordinated approach to achieving functional zero both end and prevent unsheltered homelessness statewide through the full activation of interim and permanent housing strategies
strategies, as well as interventions to prevent individuals and families from falling into unsheltered homelessness, and funding to fund all interventions and reforms that prioritize housing unsheltered Californians now; and be it further
Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the Governor of California, to the Secretary of the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency, to the Director of the Department of Housing and Community Development, and to the executive officers of every county and incorporated city in the state.
