California’s Federal Tax $$$ for Homeless Go to Lawsuits, Misuse, Waste

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Oakland homeless camp

The Los Angeles City Council has voted to develop a proposal to house every homeless person in the city. The project is being met with intense skepticism, especially as a new report highlights the billions of dollars statewide devoted to the issue going unspent, tied up in litigation, or wasted.

California’s homeless population has grown to 134,000. The money isn’t being spent on them or at all.

According to the LA Times, the $2 billion can’t be spent because a Sacramento attorney is challenging the state’s plan to pay off that debt with money California voters approved in 2004 for mental health services. The lawyer says they can’t take the money from treatment even in the mentally ill would have housing.

The officials have a plan and it is to pump another $1.5 billion into homelessness prevention. The officials feel they haven’t pumped enough money into it yet.

The money generally comes from the FEDERAL TAXPAYER.

Some of the programs were eliminated or they ran out of money, the rest is tied up in litigation.

According to the LA Times, “Generally, funding to help the homeless comes from the federal government and goes directly to local agencies that coordinate homeless financing and services across the state.” Unfortunately, major programs for homeless housing subsidies have been eliminated, run out of money, or they are tied up in litigation.

Lawmakers were not provided with an accounting of how the money is being spent. It isn’t being spent the way they thought it was.

The LA Times:

“Officials with the California Department of Finance and the Department of Housing and Community Development tried last month to explain to legislators on the Assembly Committee on Budget how the state was spending its money. But the conversation turned to programs that weren’t listed on the budget that state officials provided the committee, and lawmakers were upset that they didn’t have a comprehensive accounting of the spending.”

The lawmakers will watch it “much more closely now.” Take that to the bank!

The tax and spend money for the homeless is called “investments”. California’s solution to waste and poor accounting is mostly “more investments.”

Not to worry! They have “momentum” now and plan to spend $700 million for housing the homeless.


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