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Sen. Ashby presses for Sacramento joint powers authority to coordinate homelessness response
Summary
Sen. Ashby introduced SB 802, which would require Sacramento-area cities and the county to form a joint powers authority (JPA) to coordinate housing and homelessness services; local leaders and service providers testified in support while county officials urged local control and further amendments.
Sen. Ashby told the Assembly Local Government Committee that SB 802 “requires the Sacramento region to form a joint powers authority to address our long standing lack of coordination on housing and homelessness,” and asked members to advance the measure.
The bill’s author and his witnesses said the region has suffered from fragmentation that leaves families navigating multiple agencies. “With over 7,500 people experiencing homelessness on the streets of Sacramento County right now,” the author said, arguing that state funding — about $500 million in the past four years — has lacked a single, accountable governance structure. He described the JPA as a legal entity that can manage funds, enter contracts, pursue grants and implement regional strategies while preserving local zoning and program control.
Former Assembly and Senate leader Darrell Steinberg, introduced by the author as an expert on homelessness policy, told the committee he had seen system-level failures and said current funding often fails to reach the most chronically ill people. “The services are not getting the people who are the sickest…in large enough numbers,” Steinberg said, pressing the need for a governance mechanism that pairs shelter and intensive services.
Supporters at the microphone included the City of Sacramento’s council members, nonprofit service providers and the Sacramento Regional Business Leaders. Councilmember Katie Maple described lived experience and mutual-aid work, saying the main barrier is that people "couldn't figure out how to get" available services because the system is disjointed.
Sacramento County’s deputy county executive Siobhan Katari testified in respectful opposition, saying the county and cities had already appointed a task force and signed a letter of intent and warning that a statutorily mandated JPA could override federal Continuum of Care (CoC) rules and set a concerning statewide precedent. She asked the committee to allow local officials time to finish work or to accept amendments to preserve local design authority.
The author responded that local negotiations have failed to form a JPA after decades and that the bill has accelerated local progress; he offered the committee legislative counsel’s analysis supporting the Legislature’s authority to act. He asked for an I vote when the committee had a quorum. The committee did not take a final floor vote on SB 802 in the excerpted hearing; the measure remained under committee consideration.
