Quick Take
Assemblymember Gail Pellerin’s bill to ban homeless relocation without coordination stalled amid concerns it could affect San Francisco’s busing programs. She plans to amend and reintroduce it in 2026.
Earlier this year, when Central Coast Assemblymember Gail Pellerin proposed banning local governments from foisting their homeless residents onto other cities and counties, her bill was colored by a high-profile case in Santa Cruz from the summer prior, and modeled after the city government’s response.
Yet, the bill immediately lost momentum after running against a San Francisco program that puts homeless people on buses and out of the city. Now, Pellerin is working on revisions to bring back the bill in 2026.
Last June, two Hanford police officers in plainclothes transported a disabled homeless woman from the Central Valley town more than three hours away to Santa Cruz’s armory shelter without any coordination between the cities. (According to the unnamed woman, the police officers allegedly considered dropping her off in the Ross Dress for Less parking lot before finding out about the armory.) Local leaders sprang to call foul.
Whether she was coerced, or requested her relocation, was a point of contention between the woman and a City of Hanford spokesperson. For Santa Cruz officials, what really mattered was that another government about 200 miles away had foisted its homelessness problem onto the city and its limited, taxpayer-funded resources. It marked a tangible example of a theory locals had discussed for years: The city’s homelessness problem was so bad because other communities ship their unhoused residents to Santa Cruz.
The city council quickly passed a pair of laws that criminalized the government-sponsored relocation of homeless people into Santa Cruz without prior coordination, and, for its shelter services, prioritize those who became homeless within Santa Cruz as opposed to those who traveled to the city after the fact.
Pellerin’s proposed bill, Assembly Bill 820, attempted to broaden that ban into something statewide, and was lauded by some local officials. However, as the state Senate and Assembly begin casting final votes on legislation, AB 820 will be left off the docket.
In fact, the bill never made it to its initial hearing at the Assembly Housing & Community Development Committee because the chair of that committee, Bay Area Assemblymember Matt Haney (District 17), thought the bill would interfere with San Francisco’s program to offer bus and train tickets to homeless people, according to a statement from Pellerin.
“Specifically, the chair expressed concern the bill could prevent San Francisco from continuing to operate their successful busing program,” Pellerin’s statement, sent via email Wednesday, said. “The intent of the bill is to prevent one jurisdiction from dumping an unhoused individual into another’s where they have no ties.”
San Francisco and San Jose are the only jurisdictions in California with government-funded busing initiatives, according to an analysis by CalMatters.
In Los Angeles, similar relocation programs are run by nonprofits, as is the case in Sacramento County. San Francisco has three busing programs, two of which require formal coordination with local support organizations to connect the relocated person with housing. The third, known as Journey Home, has lower barriers and focuses on quickly helping homeless people move to a new city.
Since July 2022, 1,386 people have been relocated through the three programs, according to city data. San Francisco’s relocation strategy made headlines last fall when outgoing mayor London Breed issued an executive order mandating city outreach workers first offer homeless people a bus ticket out of town before any city services.
San Jose launched its own initiative, Homeward Bound, in February. The program focuses on reuniting San Jose’s homeless residents with their families who live outside of the city, and relocation happens only after coordination and consent between the person and those taking them in.
Haney’s office did not return requests for comment. Pellerin said her office is working on amendments to the bill and that she is “confident” they will resolve the issues before the bill is brought back in 2026.
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