San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie is launching a reset of the city’s costly homelessness response system — promising no more blank checks for organizations receiving public funds in a statement released Monday. The Department of…
Page F6From§Eachthe milkman edition — 1 September 2026
Utility bailout dies in California as homelessness contracts face overhaul
With the utility bailout declared dead, California signals a win for the ratepayer—less public money spent on corporate rescue. At the same time, $500 million in homelessness contracts are facing a sweeping nonprofit clampdown. Both moves carry the language of fiscal responsibility, but neither resolves the lived gap: the price of power remains high, and the process for homelessness support is now an exercise in paperwork. The figure on the homelessness contracts is precise—half a billion dollars. The outcome for those on the street is left unstated. The ledger shows a reduction in one column, an overhaul in another. The arithmetic reconciles, but the receipts don’t return to the meter or the shelter. Hon, the only thing guaranteed is a new round of forms.
“California kills the utility bailout, but the big money in homelessness contracts gets a ‘sweeping clampdown.’ The power bills stay high, and the folks on the street get a new paperwork shuffle. The winners aren’t at the meter or the shelter—they’re somewhere in the fine print.”
“This is responsible governance. Ending the bailout saves taxpayers money, and reviewing homelessness contracts means accountability. If anything, this is exactly what voters want—less waste and more oversight. Wait, I mean, more efficiency, not less support. That doesn’t sound right. Did I say less support? I meant smarter support.”
The receipts
If the system we have cannot deliver that without catastrophic wildfires and shifting the losses onto California families, preserving it should not be our goal.
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front.