After Prop. 1 passes, Newsom says strike team ready to put programs in place

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A day after California confirmed that voters passed Proposition 1 by a narrow margin, Gov. Gavin Newsom and other officials took a victory lap to tout changes the measure could produce.

Prop. 1 allocates $6.4 billion to help build treatment beds and housing for those with mental health issues. It passed with just 50.2% of the vote, so close it took more than two weeks after the March 5 primary election to call the result.

Officials say the measure will help correct mistakes made decades ago when the state closed many mental health hospitals.

The number of homeless people in California ballooned to more than 181,000 in 2022 - a 60% increase in the past decade.

Research from the University of California at San Francisco shows some 21,000 of the homeless in California experienced mental issues like hallucinations.

Newsom, joined by Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna, County Supervisor Hilda Solis and others toured a behavioral health treatment center in Los Angeles to discuss Prop. 1 and thank voters.

He said a "strike team" is already in place working on ways to put the measure into action.

"Now we're here on the other side of it having successfully achieved this remarkable result because of the graciousness and the generosity of the people of the state of California," Newsom said.