Friend –

The ACLU across California envisions a world in which all people have access to the care and housing they require to live fully and equally in their communities, free from coercion, deprivation, and fear. We affirm that housing and health care are human rights, and affordable housing with voluntary, robust and accessible services is the solution to our state's houselessness crisis.

That's why we hope you won't get fooled by Proposition 1's false promises. Vote NO.

Decades of disinvestment have left California's affordable housing and community mental health systems in shambles, unable to come close to making this dream a reality. Instead of replenishing our system of care, voters are being asked in the March primary to consider Proposition 1 – a wrongheaded approach with disastrous consequences.

Proposition 1 claims to fix our broken system of care. Instead, it:

• Would cause thousands of Californians to lose access to life-saving community mental health care by taking funding away from effective, voluntary programs to fund a small number of housing opportunities for unsheltered Californians.
• Is NOT a solution to houselessness. It would provide housing for only about three percent of the total number of Californians who are unhoused on any given day – while a separate, upcoming housing measure with a similar price tag would provide 20 times that amount.
• Relies on a false and harmful narrative that the only way to solve houselessness is to take money away from other critical community-based services, when we know California has the resources to invest in the housing California needs.
• Would impose a new $6.4 billion bond to primarily fund forced treatment and institutionalization – which are the most expensive and least effective forms of mental health treatment, in addition to being coercive, traumatizing, and a violation of civil rights.

We must demand the public investments needed to create a healthy and vibrant state in which everyone is treated with dignity, and no one is left behind – not false promises. Demand real solutions to guarantee housing and healthcare for all. Vote NO on Proposition 1.

To learn more about Prop. 1, read our blog and FAQ on our website.

In solidarity,

Carmen-Nicole Cox
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Director of Government Affairs, ACLU California Action