Newsom says he cares about San Joaquin Valley. He can show it by signing this bill now

Update: Late Monday Gov. Newsom sent a letter to the Assembly notifying lawmakers he was not signing the bill authored by Assemblymember Jim Patterson, and which unanimously passed in the Legislature.

Newsom said the bill was unnecessary, given that he is committed to diversity on state boards and commissions. This despite the fact that four of the members serving on the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission are from Sacramento, and none are from the San Joaquin Valley.

The need for better representation remains, regardless of what the governor says. The editorial outlining the reasons why is below.

Original editorial:

Approximately 5.5 million adults in California have a mental health condition. Of those, 1.2 million have a serious illness, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

And 46% of California adults reported suffering from anxiety or depression in February 2021, a likely result of the COVID pandemic, NAMI said.

Yet the mental health needs of people in San Diego County might be different than those of Fresno County residents.

It is for that reason that Assemblymember Jim Patterson has authored a bill that would require the state Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission to have members from each of California’s 10 regions.

As it stands today, there is no San Joaquin Valley representative on the 16-member commission.

What commission does

The commission was created when California voters passed the Mental Health Services Act in 2004. The group’s job is to oversee how that act gets implemented. Specifically, the commission awards grants to counties for programs, gathers and shares data, promotes best practices and encourages research.

The act is intended to improve how mental health services get delivered to people suffering from illnesses, but that job is daunting.

NAMI reports that 1.5 million Californians who need mental health treatment cannot get it, with a third saying it is because of cost.

Nearly 400,000 young Californians ages 12 to 17 have depression, NAMI reports. Of those, 64% did not get any care in the last year.

Statewide representation

Of the 16 members on the commission, one is appointed by the attorney general and another by the state schools superintendent. The Assembly and state Senate leaders each get to appoint a member.

That leaves 12 members for the governor to appoint, and it is in this pool that Patterson seeks to have proper geographic representation.

In a letter to Newsom, Patterson notes that “the current make-up of the Mental Health Oversight and Accountability Commission lacks any representation in the northern San Joaquin Valley, the southern San Joaquin Valley, the Inland Empire, and the Orange County regions.

“Without proper representation from these areas, it cannot be guaranteed that critical mental health needs are being met.

“AB 1668 seeks to ensure that individuals facing mental health challenges are appropriately represented, regardless of where they live in the state. This bill recognizes that different regions may require different needs when it comes to mental health services, and there is no one-size-fits-all model.”

A common-sense measure, AB 1668 unanimously passed both the Assembly and Senate, even though Patterson is a Republican. Democrats hold a supermajority in both houses of the Legislature and can brush aside GOP measures if they want.

There was no opposition to the bill in either the Assembly or Senate. There is also no added cost.

As the statistics show, mental health is becoming more strained and in need of attention in the pandemic era. Newsom should sign the bill so that it becomes law, and better representation can be brought to the mental health oversight panel.

This story was originally published June 21, 2022 at 5:00 AM.