BILL NUMBER: ACR 42	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Members Fong and Hill
   (Coauthor: Assembly Member Jones)

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2009

   Relative to homelessness.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   ACR 42, as introduced, Fong. 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, 2010.
   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 has 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 contribute 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 five 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, 2010,
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, 2010.