Governor authorizes expanded security funding for places of worship and nonprofit organizations
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – On Wednesday, Governor Newsom authorized $10 million in state funding to increase police presence at places of worship as well as a $20 million investment into the California State Nonprofit Security Grant Program.
“We must do everything we can to protect all Californians from hate crimes and violent attacks,” said Speaker of the California Assembly Robert Rivas. “And when threats are on the rise, we must respond with urgency. I thank the Governor and our emergency responders for allocating more resources to keep nonprofit groups, religious organizations and all of our state’s diverse communities safe from harm.”
The $10 million authorized on Wednesday is intended to reimburse overtime costs for local law enforcement agencies providing in-person security presence at religious institutions as well as places of worship.
The additional $20 million security investment is a doubling of the available funds for nonprofits through the state's Nonprofit Security Grant Program.
Applications for the grant program are accepted until Oct. 27, 2023.
“The sad reality is we should all be more vigilant during this time,” said Senate President pro-Tempore Toni G. Atkins. “Places of worship and faith-based non-profit groups in particular need our help to be better prepared and more secure right now, and this funding will help achieve that. My colleagues and I support Governor Newsom’s spending request, and appreciate this effort to safeguard Californians.”
According to the Governor's Office, California has invested over $400 million to increase community safety resources including $217 million in state and federal grants for security infrastructure for faith-based and nonprofit institutions since 2019.
Last year, the Governor also established the Commission on the State of Hate which also improved hate crime tracking, signed Executive Order N-16-22 in 2022, and created the CA vs Hate which created a new multilingual state-wide hotline and website for anonymous reporting of hate acts.
The number for that hotline is 833-8-66-4283, but if you are in danger, please call 9-1-1.
