Gov. Newsom Signs Bass-Sponsored Bill To Make Legislative Fix To Confront Homelessness Crisis
LOS ANGELES — Gov. Gavin Newsom this week signed SB 1500, which was introduced by Senator Maria Elena Durazo and sponsored by Mayor Bass to lead to Angelenos coming inside faster. The bill will give housing providers the certainty they need to take advantage of the federal presumptive eligibility waivers that Mayor Bass secured from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development or HUD in August of 2023.
SB 1500 provides statutory guidelines to various state programs to reduce barriers to permanent housing for unhoused people. For years, people experiencing homelessness needed to prove their income, Social Security, disability and other factors in order to enter permanent housing. After advocacy by Mayor Bass, in 2023, the Department of Housing and Urban Development granted Los Angeles presumptive eligibility waivers, allowing people to self-certify their income and tearing down this outdated barrier. Even with this new authority, housing providers were reluctant to take advantage of it because of potential penalties from the state. This bill changes that.
Under SB 1500, when a person experiencing homelessness is provided permanent housing using Los Angeles’ self-certification of income authority from HUD, the housing provider will no longer be subject to scrutiny from the State for 24 months as long as the unhoused individual does not have an income exceeding $48,550, which is 50% of the Area Median Income or AMI in Los Angeles.
This bill will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2025.
Key results from the 2024 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count:
- Homelessness in the City of Los Angeles is down for the first time in six years.
- Unprecedented drop in street homelessness (10% decrease in the City of Los Angeles – the first double digit decrease in the last at least 9 years).
- A decrease in makeshift shelters (38% decrease in the City of Los Angeles).
- The number of people who moved into permanent housing is at an all time high.
Gov. Newsom Signs Bills to Crack Down on Sexually Explicit Deepfakes & Require AI Watermarking
SACRAMENTO – Gov. Gavin Newsom Sept. 29 signed three pieces of legislation designed to address the ethical concerns surrounding artificial intelligence or AI and protect individuals from the misuse of digital content. The new laws impose new requirements on AI developers and social media platforms to ensure responsible technology use while safeguarding Californians from harm.
SB 942 by Senator Josh Becker (D-Menlo Park) focuses on helping the public more reliably identify AI-generated content. It requires widely-used generative AI systems to include provenance disclosures in the content they generate. These disclosures, while invisible to humans, should be detectable by free tools offered together with these systems. Users can use these tools to identify AI-generated content. This new measure ensures transparency and accountability in the rapidly evolving world of digital content creation.
“Going forward it’s crucial that individuals know if content was created by AI or not. SB 942 is a significant advancement over anything that’s come before because it requires large Gen AI companies to both label AI generated content and provide an AI detection capability,” said Senator Becker. “By signing this bill, Governor Newsom is providing Californians with essential tools to navigate the evolving digital landscape and solidifying our position as a leader in enacting sensible AI regulations that protect consumers without stifling innovation.”
SB 926 by Dr. Aisha Wahab (D-Hayward) creates a new crime targeting AI-generated sexually explicit deepfake content. The bill makes it illegal to create and distribute sexually explicit images of a real person that appear authentic, when intended to cause that person serious emotional distress.
“Victims of digital sexual assault are forever traumatized by their perpetrators through damaged reputations that lead to a lack of workplace promotions, mental health deterioration, shame, and isolation,” said Dr. Wahab. “SB 926 gives these victims—who are predominantly women—and law enforcement the tools they need to ensure perpetrators are prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
SB 981, also by Dr. Wahab addresses the issue of sexually explicit digital identity theft. It requires social media platforms to establish a mechanism for users to report sexually explicit deep fakes of themselves; once reported, this content must be temporarily blocked while the platform investigates, and permanently removed if confirmed. This legislation empowers individuals to take swift action to protect their digital identity and privacy in cases where their likeness is misused.