GOP legislators introduce bills addressing crime, homelessness, mental illness

Many Republican legislators have praised Gov. Gavin Newsom’s call to address homelessness and the related issues of crime and mental illness. But will he be willing to embrace their ideas?

Lawmakers introduced a flurry of bills on these topics ahead of the 2020 bill introduction deadline Friday. This came just two days after Newsom devoted his entire State of the State speech to California’s homeless crisis. The speech included a pledge to open up 286 state-owned properties to be used for shelters and housing.

“We must replace California’s scatter shot approach with a coordinated crisis-level response,” Newsom said during the speech. “To meet this moment with the commitment it demands, we will advance a new framework. We will reduce street homelessness quickly and humanely through emergency actions.”

These issues impact the state budget. For instance, a report from the Legislative Analyst’s Office tagged the high number of mentally ill prisoners as a key reason corrections spending has risen even as prison populations have been falling.

But some in the GOP say they’ve been reaching out for bipartisan solutions for months. On Thursday, Senate Republican Caucus Chair Brian Jones, R-Santee, introduced a package of five bills designed to fight homelessness. In a press release, Jones asked the governor to include him and his colleagues in the process. “Last year, I tried to discuss this with Governor Newsom and [Sacramento] Mayor [Darrell] Steinberg” in his capacity as co-chair of the governor’s Homeless Commission, Jones said. “Neither of them was interested in having the conversation then, but perhaps they’ve finally woken up to the issues our state is facing and will be willing to talk now.”

One bill in particular seeks to address the nexus of crime, homelessness and mental illness. SB 1203 would create a program under the California Department of Justice to help law enforcement create homeless outreach teams.

In a separate press release after Newsom’s speech, Jones praised the governor’s focus on the topic but chided Newsom for ignoring Republicans.

“Senate Republicans have supported improvements to Laura’s Law and the Mental Health Services Act in recent years,” Jones said. “In addition, a 2019 Senate Republican bill (SB 640, Moorlach) proposed reforms similar to those the Governor described, but legislative Democrats blocked the bill from passing just last month,” the press release said.

The bill authored by Sen. John Moorlach, R-Costa mesa, would have modified rules around when a person could be considered “gravely disabled” and subject to involuntary confinements. A coalition of groups led by Disability Rights California and the American Civil Liberties Union argued it went too far in taking away rights and helped defeat it last month in the Senate Health Committee.

Moorlach put out his own statement, praising the governor and noting his work with Democrats. Moorlach noted he was a co-sponsor of SB 50, a bill to allow high-rise apartment buildings near transit hubs that was defeated largely by Democrats, and worked with former Senate leader Kevin de Leon on mental health legislation.

Other new legislation suggests some Republicans are finding common ground with Democrats on at least some issues related to these problems. On Friday, Assemblyman Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, and Sen. Jim Nielsen, R-Red Bluff, announced AB 3127, a new “red flag” gun bill designed to more quickly identify when a person on a prohibited list tries to buy a firearm.

AB 2481 by Assemblyman Tom Lackey, R-Palmdale, would impose a 2021 deadline on law enforcement agencies to submit rape kits gathered before 2016 for testing. Working with Assemblywoman Blanca Rubio, D-Baldwin Park, he also introduced AB 2833, a bill calling for increased law enforcement training on domestic violence.

Another bill by Jones, SB 1165, would call on police departments to track hate crimes by zip code and to “analyze data about hate crimes for trends by region.” According to Jones’ staff, the bill is designed to identify patterns that could help law enforcement stop attacks. The bill is a response to the 2019 Poway synagogue shooting and a 2018 State Auditor report finding law enforcement agencies had misclassified and underreported hate crimes.