Published Sep. 29, 2026at5:04pm
By signing a law to expand drug-free housing for homeless people, Gov. Gavin Newsom did more than reverse a prior veto. He also may have reset the narrative around a potential 2028 political liability.
Newsom, a likely presidential contender, on Tuesday approved a bill that allows state funding for housing projects that promote sober living. His move is an abrupt shift from years of California homelessness policies shaped by a “housing-first” philosophy, which prohibits preconditions like sobriety or treatment.
Last fall, Newsom vetoed a similar bill from San Francisco Assemblymember Matt Haney. The governor wrote in his veto memo that housing sites banning illicit drug use could already be funded by the state, arguing that it would create a “duplicative and costly” extra category.
But according to a legislative analysis report, state law has been focused on the housing-first approach to funding projects, a strategy “informed by a harm-reduction philosophy that recognizes drug and alcohol use and addiction as a part of tenants’ lives and where tenants are engaged in nonjudgmental communication regarding drug and alcohol use.”
Haney, a former San Francisco supervisor whose district included the Tenderloin and who sponsored both bills, said he was initially shocked by Newsom’s reaction to it last year.
“The veto message had us all scratching our heads,” Haney said. “Nobody believed that we could already do this.”
Newsom faced swift blowback from both Democrats and Republicans, who argued that the state’s approach ignored how soaring fentanyl overdoses and open-air drug markets have shifted the conversation around addiction treatment.
Mayor Daniel Lurie — a Newsom ally whose wife, Becca Prowda, works for the governor — was especially pointed in his criticism last year, saying, “We are starting to see progress, but the governor’s veto of this bill threatens to stop that progress in its tracks.” Other Democrats, including Supervisor Matt Dorsey and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, also slammed the veto.
Some questioned the extent to which the veto was driven by state agencies. Grow SF, the moderate advocacy group, suggested as much, saying it “exemplifies how state bureaucracy blocks effective local governance.”
The issue has continued to trail Newsom in recent months. Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton has repeatedly evoked it on the campaign trail, calling it an example of how Newsom’s homelessness policies are a “complete disaster.”
“It’s pathetically too little, way too late,” Hilton said of Newsom signing the bill. “These are the defining failures of his time in office.”
That line of attack could be a liability for Newsom’s presidential ambitions, despite his reversal, providing fodder to GOP foes who point to viral images of California’s tent encampments and open-air drug markets to ridicule the governor’s record.
While Newsom’s do-over took nearly a year, it has been in the works for many months. Officials from Haney and Lurie’s offices began meeting with members of Newsom’s administration last fall to convince state officials that the bill was needed.
“After the veto, it seemed clear pretty quickly that the governor did want to get something done quickly on this,” Haney said.
Haney argued that state agency guidelines effectively blocked funding for sober housing projects — even if the state law didn’t explicitly ban it. He said the spread of open-air drug markets near supportive housing sites heightened the sense of urgency.
Assemblymember Matt Haney authored the bill that allows funding for sober housing projects. | Source: Estefany Gonzalez/The Standard
Haney called the policy absurdly restrictive: “Imagine you’re battling obesity, and you’re forced to live in a McDonald’s. It’s nonsensical, and it’s dangerous. If someone needs to get off drugs, the worst thing you could do is send them back to an environment where there’s drug use.”
Newsom didn’t provide a signing message when he approved Haney’s legislation, AB1556, on Tuesday. His office said the bill would provide “recovery options for homeless by making Housing First-compliant recovery housing clearly eligible for state funding, while preserving tenant protections and access to other housing options.”
The governor’s administration still argues that sober housing was allowed under existing state law and that Haney’s bill simply clarifies the process. But guidelines published last year by the California Interagency Council on Homelessness prohibit state-funded housing projects from evicting tenants for drug use and require that they be “voluntarily engaged” in treatment services.
Haney and sober housing advocates say those guidelines effectively banned state-funded recovery housing.
San Francisco has a few sober-housing sites funded through the city. The vast majority of supportive housing units in the city operate under a “housing-first” policy that doesn’t require treatment for residents.
This summer, the Board of Supervisors approved Dorsey’s legislation that targets so-called “drug-tolerant housing” by requiring San Francisco to prioritize funding for future supportive housing projects that ban illicit drug use and allow evictions for repeat violations. The policy applies only to new projects funded by the city.
But Haney’s bill could expand the number of sober facilities in the city by unlocking state funding for new projects.
The bill doesn’t specify a specific funding amount — unlike his proposal last year — but it would make sober projects eligible for grants. Haney said the goal is to provide sober housing for those who want it, not to end the availability of “housing-first” sites.