Calif. plans $5.8B hike for hotels-to-shelters program

California spent $800 million in 2020 to convert vacant hotels, motels and other idle buildings into shelters for 8,200 homeless people, and the state plans to up that to $5.8 billion over the coming two years and build 42,000 units. Project Homekey, which uses state and federal sources, is the flagship of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s $12 billion program to address homelessness.