Proposition 1 Edges Toward Approval, but Too Close to Call

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California voters on Tuesday appear to be supportive of Proposition 1, a landmark reform to the state’s mental health funding and a top priority for Gov. Gavin Newsom.

At last count, 53% of voters supported the measure, which will fund new treatment facilities and earmark existing mental health funding for housing. That’s with about 38% of votes tallied. It passes with a majority vote.

Newsom crafted Proposition 1 to focus on a specific subset of Californians experiencing homelessness: those with severe mental health or substance abuse challenges. The governor called it the last piece of his reforms to programs at the intersection of homelessness and behavioral health — following the creation of a civil court system that allows judges to order people into treatment and housing for residents with severe mental illness, and a subsequent expansion of the state’s conservatorship law.

Proposition 1 included a $6.38 billion bond to fund the construction of residential care facilities and supportive housing — including apartments with wrap-around services dedicated for veterans. It also would changed the Mental Health Services Act, approved by voters in 2004, by shifting money from California counties and mental health service providers toward the construction of housing and care facilities. It also would expanded the class of people who are eligible under the act to include Californians with substance abuse issues who don’t have a mental health diagnosis.

Supporters said the measure will finally provide the stable shelter for unhoused Californians with mental illness that disappeared when the state closed its controversial mental health hospitals in the 1960s and 1970s. A statewide survey of Californians experiencing homelessness published last year by UCSF found 27% of participants had been hospitalized for a mental health condition.

But the measure faced opposition from fiscal conservatives over the size of the bond. Meanwhile, mental health service providers feared the new emphasis on housing would lead to less funding for less visible programs, such as peer support groups or drop-in counseling. And civil liberties advocates worried that too many of the new treatment facilities would be restrictive, locked beds.

Big donors across the state poured $21.6 million into the Yes on Prop 1 campaign, including Uber, the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, Kaiser Permanente and influential groups representing correctional officers and hospitals. Their shared interest? A desire to build facilities for Californians who often end up in emergency rooms and correctional facilities — and just as likely, a chance to contribute to a political victory for the governor.