In a catastrophic miscalculation that exposes his continued attachment to failure, California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed Assembly Bill 255 on Oct. 1. It was a bipartisan measure designed to expand access to recovery housing for homeless individuals struggling with substance use disorders.

His veto comes at a time when California’s homeless can least afford more failure.

AB 255, authored by Assembly member Matt Haney, would have allowed up to 10% of state homelessness funds to support abstinence-based recovery housing. These programs integrate shelter with sobriety requirements, accountability and supportive services that help people reclaim stability. Newsom dismissed the bill as "unnecessary," insisting that current guidelines already permit sober housing and warning against "duplicative" categories.

His reasoning rings hollow.

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California mimicked the federal government’s 2013 "Housing First" mandate – and its promise to end homelessness in a decade.

In 2016, California became the only state to enshrine Housing First statewide, meaning that all state-funded homeless programs conform to the approach of providing life-long housing subsidies without conditions such as sobriety, treatment or work—ever.

Despite a 300% increase in federal spending since 2013 – and an additional 300% increase in state spending – homelessness has exploded. It’s up 35% nationally and 40% in California.

These statistics aren’t abstract figures; they are lives unraveling under a governor who refuses to look in the mirror and admit that California’s rigid mandate has failed.

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At the heart of the failure is a refusal to recognize who we are serving. Roughly 80% of the homeless suffer from the diseases of mental illness and/or addiction. Many also struggle with anosognosia – a brain-based condition that results in a deficit of self-awareness, meaning they don’t realize how sick they are.

And that’s what makes Housing First’s requirement of voluntary service engagement tragically unworkable. A 14-year Boston study makes this clear: Nearly half of the housed individuals died within five years, and only 36% remained housed after year five.

Recovery housing – the kind AB 255 sought to expand – offers something fundamentally different: community, accountability and hope.

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Those trying to get sober stand the best chance of doing so when housed alongside others striving for the same goal. Isolation in permanent housing without sobriety requirements flies in the face of what frontline providers know works. By surrounding people with peers who are also pursuing recovery, and by building environments where sobriety is non-negotiable, recovery housing gives people a real path forward – toward stability, employment and independence.

None of the men, women or children living in tents or under bridges aspired to this life. Many arrived here through trauma, addiction, mental illness and/or generational poverty.

By vetoing AB 255 for the second year in a row, Newsom chose ideology over compassion, oppression over prosperity. Instead of offering pathways to dignity and restoration, he consigns those too sick to choose for themselves to their fate; they’re left to continue to come apart on the streets or languish in low-barrier, chaos-ridden shelters while they wait for permanent housing that rarely comes.

California is home to approximately 30% of the nation’s homeless population and nearly half of its unsheltered homelessness. Meeting this crisis requires courage to innovate, belief in recovery and respect for human potential. AB 255 was a balanced, modest step that could have complemented Housing First while giving desperate people the chance to heal.

Disguised as administrative prudence, Newsom’s veto of AB 255 was, in reality, a profound moral failure. Shame on him for standing in the way of recovery, restoration and hope.

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The New York Yankees are not done yet. They rallied from a 6-1 deficit for their largest comeback win in an elimination game in franchise history, taking Game 3 of the ALDS against the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Yankees scored eight unanswered runs in the middle innings to secure a 9-6 victory. They'll now turn to rookie Cam Schlittler – whose first postseason start was a masterpiece in the Wild Card Series win over the Boston Red Sox – as they face elimination again Wednesday night. 

Meanwhile, Blue Jays manager John Schneider will likely rely on a bullpen game to try to cool off a suddenly red-hot Yankees lineup. 

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After being outscored 23-8 in the first two games, the Yankees needed to strike early. But the Yankee Stadium crowd was silenced almost immediately by another Vladimir Guerrero Jr. home run.

The red-hot slugger hammered a Carlos Rodón changeup over the left-center-field fence to make it 2-0 right away for Toronto. The Yankees responded with a Giancarlo Stanton two-out single in the bottom of the first inning, but the Blue Jays took the wind out of any Yankees sails in the top of the third.

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Toronto put up a four-spot as a slew of RBI singles from Daulton Varsho, Ernie Clement and Anthony Santander made it a 6-1 game and knocked Rodón out, much like Max Fried in Game 2 when he couldn’t go more than three innings.

But the Yankees continued to hang around and responded as Aaron Judge hit an RBI double in the bottom half of the third, while Stanton came through again with a sacrifice fly to score Cody Bellinger and make it a 6-3 game.

The Blue Jays still owned a solid lead after three innings, but the Yankees were simply looking for that one break and one moment that could potentially turn everything around in this series. That’s what they got when what seemed to be an easy pop-up by Austin Wells turned into a crucial error by Addison Barger in short left field. 

With Wells on second base and Trent Grisham walking, Judge came to the plate with a chance to tie the game with one swing. Judge has been critiqued heavily for his postseason career, and though he has a playoff-high total of hits thus far, he hasn’t done what he does best — hit the ball out of the ballpark.

If there was ever a time for another signature Judge moment, this was it — against Louis Varland, the Blue Jays’ high-leverage reliever who has given up two long balls to No. 99 in his career.

With a two-strike count, Judge swung at a 99.7 mph fastball well off the plate inside and roped it down the left-field line. It banged off the foul pole for a three-run home run to tie the game at six, and the Yankee faithful awoke with a collective roar.

Of course, the Yankees knew the game was only tied and they needed more runs to keep their season alive. In the bottom of the fifth, Jazz Chisholm Jr. knew he got all of a Varland fastball when he hammered it to the second deck in right field for the team’s first lead of the series. Wells added some insurance with an RBI single to make it 8-6.

The Yankees, now holding a 9-6 lead thanks to a Ben Rice sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth, needed nine outs from their top two bullpen arms, Devin Williams and David Bednar, to move on to Game 4. Williams came through with four outs, including two strikeouts, while Bednar provided the final five outs without allowing a hit.

New York also wouldn’t have been in position to win this game if it weren’t for Fernando Cruz, Camilo Doval and Tim Hill shutting down the Blue Jays’ offense while the Yankees chipped away at the deficit.

Game 4 will be an 8:08 p.m. ET first pitch at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday night. 

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