Exodus Eastside Urgent Care Center provides Mental Health Services. | Photo courtesy of Los Angeles County
A voter initiative on Tuesday’s primary ballot to overhaul California’s mental health care system was still too close to decide Friday while vote counting was underway.
Proposition 1 is a two-pronged measure supported by Gov. Gavin Newsom and many Southern California officials, including Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Los Angeles County Supervisors Hilda Solis and Janice Hahn. It is. Supporters of the proposal say it would significantly increase the number of treatment beds and supportive housing, but opponents say it would lead to funding cuts to existing programs that have proven successful. are doing.
A vote tally Friday morning showed a nearly 50-50 split. According to the California Secretary of State, Proposition 1 received a total of 2,182,664 votes (50.4%) in favor and 49.6% (2,152,019 votes) against it.
If a majority of California voters approve the proposal, it would create 11,150 behavioral health treatment beds in the state and create housing and outpatient treatment slots for 26,700 people, according to the governor’s office. become. Approximately $1 billion of the bond will be dedicated specifically to serving veterans.
The bill would be provided for by issuing $6.38 billion in bonds and by the Mental Health Services Act, which was enacted by voters in 2004 and imposed a 1% income tax on people making more than $1 million a year. Funding the provision of these services through the reallocation of funds. . While the money from this measure would primarily go to counties to fund mental health programs, Prop. 1 aims to transfer much control of that funding to the state.
Newsom framed Proposition 1 as a step toward fulfilling a 50-year-old demand for a statewide mental health system that never materialized.
“We can make history,” Newsom said earlier this year at an event in Los Angeles to launch a campaign in support of the ballot measure. “We can’t take back the last 50 or 60 years, but we can finally realize the vision we set out a half-century ago. This initiative, Proposition 1, advances many things, including: It does not promote the status quo. It is the status quo. If you support the status quo, please vote no on Proposition 1.”
In addition to correcting years of failures in the government’s response to the state’s mental health crisis, Bass argued that Proposition 1 would also help alleviate rampant problems across the state surrounding the homelessness crisis.
“Think about how much money you would save if Prop. 1 passed and actually put facilities in place for people and took people off the streets,” Bass said. “We know that addiction and mental illness contribute to homelessness.”
The mayor added that there is an undeniable link between homelessness and mental health issues, and that the two social issues are therefore inseparable.
“It’s not enough to have a bed for one person,” Bass said. “We can get people off the streets, and we’ve demonstrated that people are willing to come off the streets. But we have to think about why they weren’t being housed in the first place. And , a comprehensive approach is needed, and Proposition 1 is a step in that direction.”
A group called Californians Against Proposition 1 attacked the bill as “huge, costly, and destructive.” Opponents argue that the bill would cost taxpayers more than $9 billion over the life of the bond, while requiring the agency to improve existing mental health He ordered $30 billion to be diverted from the Services Fund.
Opponents say the result would be “cutting existing, functioning mental health services.”
“Prop. 1 breaks the promise voters made when they first passed the Mental Health Services Act,” the opposition group said. “Subsequent ideas include prevention, early intervention, youth programs, and programs for struggling and underserved populations, including racially and ethnically diverse groups and LGBTQ people. The goal was to create permanent, dedicated funding for long-neglected mental health services, such as programs. We provide everything. ”
Opponents argued that Prop. 1 would “significantly reduce MHSA funding and put a knife to dozens of programs across the state that cannot survive without MHSA funding.” “We’re telling counties to do more with less.”
The Secretary of State’s office has until April 12 to complete vote counting and certify the election results.
City News Service contributed to this report.
