To tackle the ongoing homelessness crisis in Los Angeles, Governor Gavin Newsom has signed AB 2525, a new piece of legislation aimed at moving RVs used as makeshift homes out of neighborhoods and into more structured settings, as the Mayor's Office reported. Authored by Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur and sponsored by Mayor Karen Bass, the law will see the city leasing property from Caltrans for the nominal fee of $1 per month, providing a place to store these RVs while their inhabitants are transitioned into housing through the Mayor’s Inside Safe program.
The bill is considered a vital addition to existing measures to combat homelessness, with Mayor Bass highlighting that "RV encampments pose a range of tactical and logistical challenges that require legislative and regulatory fixes." The new law will aid in bringing more Angelenos into housing in a faster and cheaper way, this effort to help Angelenos struggling with homelessness has been ongoing since Bass's early days in office when she declared an emergency on the homelessness crisis. Assemblymember Zbur also emphasized the urgency of the situation, stating, "With thousands of people experiencing homelessness living in RVs, the need for safe storage as we transition Angelenos into housing is urgent," as per the Mayor's Office.
AB 2525 is one of two bills sponsored by Mayor Bass to be signed by Governor Newsom this year, with the second bill, SB 1500, expected to expedite the process of bringing unhoused people inside by leveraging federal presumptive eligibility waivers. These efforts are part of a broader initiative that has seen Los Angeles's homelessness figures decline for the first time in six years, including a 10% decrease in street homelessness and a 38% decrease in makeshift shelters within the city.
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