Senate Bill 802 would reshape Sacramento homelessness response, creating a joint powerrs authority.
SACRAMENTO COUNTY, Calif. — The debate over how to address homelessness in Sacramento County is resurfacing as a controversial state bill makes its way back through the Legislature.
Democratic state Sen. Angelique Ashby’s Senate Bill 802, which was put on hold in July 2025 after facing backlash, is again moving through the legislative process. The proposal would restructure the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency into a joint powers authority and rename it the Sacramento Area Housing and Homelessness Agency.
The bill would affect Sacramento County and the cities of Sacramento, Folsom, Elk Grove, Rancho Cordova and Citrus Heights.
Sacramento County officials remain firmly opposed.
“We’re fundamentally opposed to the bill, uh, for a number of reasons, and the threshold reason is our analysis is that, it’s not even legal,” said Supervisor Patrick Kennedy.
If approved, the measure would require the new joint powers authority to develop a comprehensive plan to address homelessness and housing within three years of taking effect.
Kennedy and Supervisor Rich Desmond have sent a letter to Ashby seeking clarification, including how the proposal would ensure that funding decisions remain under the full control of each individual jurisdiction.
“I haven’t seen where this would help anything. I mean adding another level of bureaucracy isn’t going to make things more efficient. It’s not going to make them happen sooner,” Kennedy said. “We’re not here saying that we’re done and we’re claiming victory over homelessness by any means, but we do have programs that the senator’s overlooking that have been very successful, including our partnership with the city of Sacramento.”
Ashby did not provide a statement when asked to respond to Kennedy’s concerns.
Sacramento City Councilmember Caity Maple, an early supporter of the bill, said the restructuring could improve coordination across jurisdictions.
“Having one place to go, no matter what your need is, you’re going to get assessed and get to the right place. That’s our hope with this bill,” Maple said.
In previous interviews, Ashby has assured the county and cities that each jurisdiction would remain in control under the proposed structure.
Maple said the current system leaves jurisdictions working within their own boundaries and funding limits, which she described as inefficient.
“I think there’s a lot of opportunities where we, if we work together, for example, pulling our funds to use an economy of scale, identifying locations in different parts of the county and the city, we could make real change right now,” she said. “Each jurisdiction is trying to figure out what they can do within the limits of their specific jurisdiction and the specific pot of money that they have. That’s not efficient, and that’s not how we do it in every other JPA.”
Kennedy said the county is not interested in amendments to the bill. Ashby was not available for an interview.
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