Urgent Call to Action – A request for action has been made to all counties to reach out to your State Representatives and Governor Newsom’s Administration ASAP to highlight the need to preserve California’s safety net by stabilizing County Realignment funding. This is the critical time to contact your legislator to affect state budget decisions with key votes occurring.

Counties provide critical human services, public health, behavioral health, and public safety programs on behalf of the state. The revenues to deliver these services through 1991 and 2011 Realignment are projected to decline by $3.3 billion combined in 2019-20 and 2020-21. An economic decline this rapid and severe was never anticipated. State funding is needed to avoid extreme cuts to programs that serve vulnerable populations at the time they are needed the most
There can be no economic recovery without a strong safety net.

Contact your State Legislators

Write, call and email your representatives in the California Senate and Assembly, as well as Governor Newsom, urging that funding be provided to preserve the safety net programs that counties administer in partnership with the state. Counties are on the front lines of the COVID-19 public health and emergency response, and also facing an increased demand for safety net services at the same time the revenues available for those services are sharply declining. Reserves are being depleted to protect our residents, but budget decisions must be made now and will impact the very services most in need.

For More Information on this issue please see a letter from a coalition of mental health and substance abuse organizations in the state.