Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, made homelessness a priority of his administration when he took office in 2019. It had previously been an issue primarily for mayors and other local officials, but Newsom pumped money into converting old motels into housing and launched other initiatives to tackle the issue.

Gov. Gavin Newsom is urging California’s local governments to begin clearing homeless encampments, escalating the state’s efforts to ban makeshift camps that line streets up and down the state.

California Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday urged localities to "take back the streets" from homeless encampments, proposing language for every city and county to use in a local ban on camping in public.