Yolo County DA says California's homeless crisis can be solved in 1 year by cracking down on drugs
SACRAMENTO -- California has the worst homeless crisis in the nation. Ending it starts with one thing, according to Yolo County's district attorney: ending its drug crisis.
DA Jeff Reisig and a group of other local law enforcement officials put together a bold proposal, possibly headed to the ballot of California voters in the November 2024 election.
"We do, in fact, have a plan that can end California's crisis in one year, and here's how. This is a drug crisis. All we need to do is look at some of our blue states who have had similar challenges and see how they have dealt with this issue," said Reisig.
He argues cracking down on hard drug possession is the key, saying, in California, there's essentially no real consequence for the crime.
The proposal cites four other Democrat-led states with harsher drug laws: New Jersey, Maryland, Michigan and Illinois. Each state has a strict sentence for hard drug possession, ranging from 18 months to 7 years — and each has a homeless rate that's four to six times lower than California's.
"This is the only way we are going to solve this homelessness crisis. This is it," said Reisig.
Bob Erlenbusch, director of the Sacramento Coalition to End Homelessness, passionately disagrees, calling the state-by-state comparison misleading.
"This is a horrifying proposal and really counterproductive," said Erlenbusch.
He does not blame California's drug crisis, but its affordable housing crisis, saying each of the aforementioned states is cheaper to live in than California and arguing their lower rate of homelessness is not directly correlated to its drug laws.
"This is not the answer, to make felons out of people who are addicted," said Erlenbusch.
WEIGH IN — A plan has been drafted by local law enforcement leaders saying they can end CA’s homeless crisis in 1 year - by cracking down on its drug crisis. Would you vote for harsher hard drug possession punishments - with addiction treatment or 18mo in jail as the consequence?
— Ashley Sharp (@AshleySharpTV) June 1, 2023
Reisig says this proposal isn't about punishment but treatment. A new offense would be created under this plan called a "treatment-mandated felony," meaning on the third offense of hard drug possession, this charge is on the table.
As for the consequences, addiction treatment is the first offer. If it's not accepted, the offense is punishable by 18 months in jail.
"The false assumption that mandated treatment works better than voluntary treatment, and nothing could be further from the truth," said Erlenbusch.
Reisig disagrees.
"We want them to get better, but you have to have accountability, too," he said. "We can't just surrender our streets, our parks, our neighborhoods to these encampments."
Wanting voters to decide, Reisig says they plan to file paperwork this summer to introduce this plan as a statewide ballot initiative in the Noveember 2024 election.