Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday launched a $1.1 billion program aimed at cleaning Califonia’s streets, highways and public spaces by picking up trash and supporting local beautification projects.
Newsom said the initiative will create as many as 11,000 jobs, including for people exiting homelessness, former inmates, veterans, students and local artists.
“Clean California offers a historic opportunity to transform our streets and highways that have been blighted with litter and hazardous waste for decades,” Newsom said in a statement, “and with more resources than ever before to provide safer housing and shelter alternatives, we’re following through on our commitment to get people out of unhealthy encampments and into safer, more stable housing.”
In all, Clean California aims to remove 1.2 million cubic yards, or 21,000 tons of trash, from state highways every year.
The program kicked off in Richmond on Wednesday, at a site which Caltrans has cleaned and maintained under the initiative. According to state officials, the agency led hiring events and trash pickup on Wednesday to commemorate the initiative.
Newsom said Clean California coincides with his plan to address homelessness in the state, amid the proliferation of trash in some encampments along and near highways. He has proposed investing $12 billion, including expanding safer housing and shelter for people who are unhoused.
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