‘It’s a joke’: San Jose Mayor slams California Legislature over lack of Prop 36 funding

ktla ^ | Aug 29, 2025 | Naythan Bryant

[BenLurkin]

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan criticized Governor Gavin Newsom and the California Legislature over a lack of funding for Proposition 36 on this week’s edition of Inside California Politics. Mahan called the $100 million allocation ’embarrassing’ during a wide-ranging interview on homelessness, mental health services, crime and more.

“I’m disappointed frankly,” Mahan told host Nikki Laurenzo. “We said during the Prop 36 campaign it’s a two-step process — the voters need to make clear that they expect accountability for retail theft and they want to see people get treatment, and then the governor and the legislature need to fund expanded treatment. It hasn’t happened. One hundred million dollars in a $250, $300 billion budget is embarrassing. It’s a joke. It’s not serious.”

Proposition 36 passed in November 2024 without a funding mechanism in place, leading to disputes between Governor Newsom and local governments over how to pay for the measure’s costs. Citing a state budget deficit, Newsom argued that counties who backed the measure should use their own funds.

“I think that’s dead wrong,” Mahan said. “State leaders keep touting that we have the fourth largest economy in the world, have some of the highest tax rates in the world, some of the highest cost of living in the country. Bottom line is, when you’ve got a $300 billion budget, it’s about priorities. I can’t think of a priority right now that is more pressing for many of our cities, many of our neighborhoods, than building the treatment capacity for addiction and mental illness to help our most vulnerable neighbors give relief to small businesses and make our cities safe again.”

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[bunkerhill7]

Wasn’t Reagan the gov who let all the nuts out?

[dragnet2]

Newsom argued that counties who backed the measure should use their own funds.

What a hoot. They'll need to jack up property taxes again. Then force those with spare bedrooms to provide shelter for mentally ill homeless. With consideration for the homeowner, a stipulation is included that limits it to 3 persons per bedroom.

[SuperLuminal]

Classic example of the word “absurd”...
California is so permanently screwd...

[aquila48]

The first thing that has to be done is come down very, very hard on drug use and especially dealing, otherwise the pipeline of addicts just keeps growing and all the money spent on treatment is wasted.

[fidelis]

Wasn’t Reagan the gov who let all the nuts out?

He ordered the institutions closed because they were sitting empty due to the Democrats passing laws that made it virtually impossible to commit the insane. Which is where we are today.