Vote YES on Proposition 1 — Overhaul mental health system

California has nearly the highest rate of homeless people in the nation — second only to the District of Columbia. More than 170,000 Californians are unhoused, with the vast majority living in street encampments.

The University of California’s Benioff Homeless and Housing Initiative found about two-thirds of homeless Californians suffered from a mental health disorder, but less than 19% had received recent treatment.

In 2023, mass shootings increased in California, as they had across the nation. Following nearly every horrendous event, we are told it’s a mental health problem.

There are few things across the political spectrum that people seem to agree upon. One is that more attention should be given to mental health programs.

A recent poll conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California found 87% of Californians believe a mental health crisis is plaguing the state.

In a rare display of bipartisanship, Democrats and Republicans set differences aside to overwhelmingly agree to place Proposition 1 on the March ballot. The measure asks voters to approve the first major overhaul in 20 years of the state’s mental health treatment system.

In 2004, voters passed a proposition dubbed the “millionaire’s tax” to provide additional funding for California’s mental health programs. The proposition added a 1% tax on the personal incomes of people earning $1 million or more. The money is distributed to state and local mental health programs.

The measure, known as the Mental Health Services Act, passed at a time when the state’s mental health system was severely underfunded. Since its passage, it has raised $26 billion for county mental health programs. The money is about one-third of the funding to support the state’s mental health system. Other financial sources include Medi-Cal, and state and county general funds.

But clearly the additional funding has not curbed the personal and societal cost of California’s mental health problems.

Even the author of the “millionaire’s tax,” Darrell Steinberg, then a state assemblyman and now the mayor of Sacramento, acknowledges that the 2004 Mental Health Services Act is not working.

“To put it plainly, not enough of the Mental Health Services Act dollars are getting to the people with the most persistent mental illnesses, specifically people who are chronically homeless and living with those underlying conditions,” Steinberg told reporters in August.

Championed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, Proposition 1 is a two-pronged overhaul of California’s mental health programs. It includes a $6.4 billion bond to expand the state’s psychiatric and addiction treatment infrastructure.

About $4.4 billion of the bond would go to building inpatient residential treatment beds that could serve 100,000 people annually, according to state officials. The Rand Corp. estimates California has a shortage of nearly 8,000 adult psychiatric beds. The result has been long waitlists and the inability to refer patients to treatment and recovery facilities.

An additional $4.2 billion would be spent on building permanent supportive housing, and set aside money for veterans with mental health diagnoses, or addiction disorders.

Proposition 1 also would redefine how counties can spend money allocated by the “millionaire’s tax,” requiring a share of it be spent on housing for people with behavioral health issues.

Legislation passed by the Legislature — Senate Bill 326 and Assembly Bill 531 — represent “a key part of the solution to our homelessness crisis, and improving mental health for kids and families,” Newsom told reporters. “Now, it will be up to voters to ratify the most significant changes to California’s mental health system in more than 50 years.”

Opponents, including nonprofit organizations and county health agencies, contend the funding shifts proposed in Proposition 1 will rob existing mental health programs, such as outpatient care and crisis response, of needed dollars. They also slam provisions that allow money to be spent on involuntary treatment institutions.

“I believe it’s going to do more harm than good,” said Paul Simmons, executive director of the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance of California. “They’re not building housing for the homeless; they’re just locking them up.”

This tug of war over California’s mental health dollars will not solve California’s mental health crisis. Proposition 1 promises real solutions.