Gov. Gavin Newsom took an early victory lap on homelessness, touting that the number of people sleeping on California’s streets had dropped by nearly 10% in the last year as he announced another tranche of state homelessness funds for local governments.

Newsom announced Friday at a press conference in San Francisco that the state would award $419 million for San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles for services and housing under the sixth round of the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention program, which has awarded state funds to city and county governments since 2019.

The Legislature first approved Friday’s round of HHAP funds in June 2024; the state will award another $500 billion in HHAP funds later this year.

Last week, Newsom’s office said California had seen a 9% drop in the unsheltered homeless population, which is the number of people who are living outside in tents, cars and other makeshift shelters. Last year, the number of Americans experiencing homelessness reached the highest increase ever recorded since the Department of Housing and Urban Development first began tracking homelessness in 2007.

Newsom has called homelessness his state’s “original sin,” while alternatively defending his achievements.

Homelessness in California has fluctuated in the decades since the U.S. first began tracking it, according to HUD data. In 2024, 187,084 Californians reported being homeless, a 23% increase from 2019. That number is less than in 2005, when 188,299 Californians reported being homeless, during the administration of former Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Newsom: ‘We’re seeing these investments paid off’

“What we highlighted just a few days ago was something we have not been able to highlight in a decade and a half in California,” Newsom said Friday. “So we’re seeing these investments paid off. It’s been a flywheel. I get people’s frustration, we all intimately understand that frustration, but we are seeing real progress, and we are investing in what we know.”

On Thursday, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, a political novice who has remained popular throughout his first year, delivered a rosy State of the City address highlighting his administration’s efforts to expand shelter beds and homeless services. Newsom, a San Francisco native who served as mayor from 2004 to 2011, attended.

So did Lurie’s predecessor, former Mayor London Breed, who told the New York Times that Lurie had taken credit for some of her previous policies, including ones on homelessness, after she lost reelection to him in 2024.

While Newsom had claimed success at lowering the unsheltered homeless population, it’s unclear if that number will stand up, as part of it is based on numbers culled from HUD’s 2024 Point-in-Time count, which tracks how many people are homeless in each state.

His office previously told The Sacramento Bee that the 9% data point is based on a mix of state-reported numbers and the 2024 HUD PIT count.

HUD has yet to release data for 2025; the agency did not immediately respond to a question Friday about when it would publish that information.

Newsom, who is termed out of office next year and cannot run again, has said he is considering a run for president in 2028. As a potential White House contender, he will likely be questioned on the campaign trail about his record on homelessness and housing production, which has dogged him since his days as mayor of San Francisco.

In 2024, a legislative auditor published a scathing report that said the state had failed to account for how it spent billions of dollars earmarked for homelessness programs.

Before his administration took office in 2019, Newsom said the state had “no vision, no plan” for tackling homelessness.

“The state was not involved in the issue of housing, mental health and homelessness just seven years ago,” he said. “We recognize our responsibility, and we recognize the imperative of partnerships, and we continue to make those investments.”

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