The Assembly Human Services Committee advanced SB 479 on June 16, sending the Berkeley-backed homelessness measure to the Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee on a 7-0 vote, according to the committee hearing summary and transcript materials.
The bill would let city-based local health jurisdictions such as Berkeley and Pasadena operate multidisciplinary homeless-response teams and share specified information across departments. Supporters said in the hearing that the approach could help city teams coordinate housing, mental health and service interventions for unsheltered residents.
The committee’s final roll call moved the bill forward without opposition. The hearing summary also notes that Oakland was added in amendments to SB 479 and that Berkeley’s Department of Health Housing and Community Services was among the entities discussed in connection with the measure.
The committee considered several other measures during the same hearing, but SB 479 was the homelessness bill that advanced to a separate committee for privacy and consumer protection review.
