Gov. Newsom Appoints Sacramento Mayor to Lead Homelessness Commission

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — The Governor's State of the State address zeroed in on a housing crisis that's left thousands of people on the streets.

He called it a homelessness epidemic that'll now get its own commission led by a familiar face, Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, who recently declared his own homeless emergency in the state Capitol.

"There's another urgent moral issue we must confront. The homelessness epidemic," Newsom said. "Because a the end of the day, shelters solve sleep. Housing and supportive services solve homelessness "

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The governor is now committing more money to prevention, mental health, shelters, and permanent housing. Steinberg plans to address prevention

"There's an important time where people go from fragile and housed to fragile and un-housed. We need to focus on that point in time for people and make sure that people who have housing don't lose it," Steinberg said.

Steinberg says he will get to work right away on the commission. As for funding for the new task force, the mayor said at this time there is no additional money needed to come up with solutions.