CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2007–2008 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Concurrent Resolution
No. 61
Introduced by
Assembly Member
Lieber, Jones
(Coauthor(s):
Assembly Member
Beall, Berg, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, Dymally, Feuer, Laird, Leno, Levine, Ma, Mullin, Nava, Saldana, Solorio, Swanson, Torrico)
(Coauthor(s):
Senator
Cedillo, Kuehl, Ridley-Thomas, Steinberg, Yee)
|
June 07, 2007 |
Relative to homelessness.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
ACR 61, as introduced, Lieber.
Joint Committee on Homelessness in California.
This measure would establish the Joint Committee on Homelessness in California, to study and investigate issues relating to homelessness, which would consist of 5 Assembly Members appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly and 5 Senators appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules. The measure would prescribe the duties and powers of the committee, and would authorize the committee to act until November 30, 2008.
Digest Key
Fiscal Committee:
NO WHEREAS, Homelessness is one of the most pervasive issues facing our country and California today; and
WHEREAS, Widespread homelessness was not evident until the 1980s; and
WHEREAS, For many years of our Nation’s history the great majority of our residents had permanent housing regardless of income, age, or disability; and
WHEREAS, There are renewed efforts by the federal government and many cities and counties to adopt plans to end chronic homelessness; and
WHEREAS, In 2005, The National Alliance to End Homelessness estimated that 744,313 people were without permanent housing in the United States; and
WHEREAS, Today approximately 170,270 Californians are without a home; and
WHEREAS, It is estimated that there are 80,000 to 95,000 homeless children in California; and
WHEREAS, The vast majority of homeless families consist of a single mother and her children; and
WHEREAS, Nearly 23 percent of homeless adults are veterans, and many more veterans who live in poverty are at risk of becoming homeless; and
WHEREAS, California has the highest average rate of homelessness in the country; and
WHEREAS, Rising rents, rapidly declining numbers of low-income rental units, and declining availability of federal housing programs contribute to homelessness; and
WHEREAS, Forty percent of people living in homelessness are former foster children, according to the Children’s Advocacy Institute; and
WHEREAS, Inequality between the classes has been growing more in California than in the Nation as a whole, and the increasing gap between the rich and the poor is due more to deteriorating incomes among the poor than to rising incomes at the top of the income distribution; and
WHEREAS, The majority of the homeless are men unattached to other family members; and
WHEREAS, A large proportion of the homeless have spent some time in jail or prison; and
WHEREAS, The homeless population suffers disproportionately from mental illness, drug and alcohol addiction, and extreme social isolation; and
WHEREAS, The deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill, drug and alcohol addiction, and the cost of housing contributes to homelessness; and
WHEREAS, More than 200 communities across the country have begun to plan to end homelessness with federal funding support; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate thereof concurring, That the Joint Committee on Homelessness in California is hereby established; and be it further
Resolved, That the Joint Committee on Homelessness in California shall consist of 10 members, who shall include 5 Assembly Members appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly and five Senators appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules; and be it further
Resolved, That the joint committee and its members shall have and exercise all of the rights, duties, and powers conferred upon investigating committees and their members by the Joint Rules of the Senate and Assembly as those rules are adopted and amended from time to time, which provisions are incorporated herein and made applicable to the committee and its members; and be it further
Resolved, That the Joint Committee on Homelessness in California shall study and investigate issues including, but not limited to, the training of law enforcement agencies regarding homelessness, education efforts on identifying homeless population and the coordination among programs serving the homeless, the development of appropriate housing services, and obtaining better data regarding the number of homeless; and be it further
Resolved, That the Joint Committee on Homelessness in California shall submit a report to the Legislature on September 30, 2007, including its findings and recommendations; and be it further
Resolved, That the Joint Committee on Homelessness in California is authorized to act until November 30, 2008.