California has most of the US homeless population

Fox News:

It's the stale stench of liquor and human waste that hits you first. Then it's visual -- row after row of dirty tarp tents crammed together on the sidewalk next to piles of rotting trash and broken appliances. There are half-dressed, drugged-out shells of people wandering aimlessly in the middle of the street. Some curse at cars. Others just stare. There are fights, prostitution and rodent burrows. This is the fabled Skid Row in Los Angeles and it's a disaster.

Like several West Coast cities Fox News visited, Los Angeles is dealing with a homeless crisis. However, unlike the East Coast, LA can't hide all of its homeless in shelters or low-income housing.

LA PUSH TO DEVELOP SKID ROW PROMPTS NEW CLASHES IN CALIFORNIA'S HOMELESS CRISIS

Failed liberal policies coupled with decades of neglect and mismanagement have turned an old problem into a modern-day nightmare. Some fear the City of Angels is at the point of no return and are angry at elected officials who talk a big game but rarely deliver.

"I don't want to see them on camera anymore," Marquesha Babers, who lived on Skid Row as a teenager, told Fox News. "I don't want them to write any more articles about how much they care or how much they're trying to change things. I want to see them do it."

LA TIMES COLUMNIST SLAMS CITY LEADERS FOR FAILING TO TACKLE HOMELESS CRISIS

Across the state, officials have long lamented the horrors of homelessness while failing to pass any meaningful legislation. Homeless advocates accuse those in charge of using the crisis to further their own political aspirations and manipulating an environment that allows them to dodge accountability.

"The best we get out of those elected to deal with problems are soundbites," Pete White, the founder of the Los Angeles Community Action Network, told Fox News. "Soundbites that say 'it's a humanitarian crisis' and that 'we have to do something' only to see that something be either nothing or pathways to criminalization."

California accounts for most of the country's homeless population. Despite throwing hundreds of millions of dollars at the problem, the number of homeless in Los Angeles County has risen for the third time in four years. The most recent count released in June by the Los Angeles County Homeless Services Authority shows that there are nearly 60,000 homeless people living without permanent shelter on any given night. In the city of Los Angeles, the number of homeless in 2019 jumped 16 percent, to 36,000, while the number of chronically homeless -- those who have been living on the streets for more than a year -- rose by 17 percent. A staggering three-quarters of the city's homeless population is unsheltered.

The sobering statistics come after two voter-approved tax hikes and a $619 million effort last year to tackle the problem through social services and new housing.

The latest uptick in numbers prompted dramatic press releases, anguished editorials and a ton of finger-pointing by elected officials. In the merry-go-round of blame, local officials claim the state isn't doing enough. California's governor says it's Washington's fault for slashing federal funds and President Trump responds by taking aim at the Democrats' governing skills.

"California is a disgrace to our country," Trump said during an August campaign rally in Ohio. "It's a shame. The world is looking at it. Look at Los Angeles with the tents and the horrible, horrible disgusting conditions."
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Things were supposed to change in November, when California Democrats scored the trifecta of legislative wins: both houses of government and the governorship. With two-thirds of votes likely in place and Gov. Gavin Newsom's pledge to make housing a priority, there was optimism in the air. That ended when Democrats struggled to get on the same page and pass legislation that would have increased the state's housing supply. They also blew another high-profile measure that would increase residential development near transit strops and in single-family neighborhoods.
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California Democrats appear clueless as to how to deal with the problem and reduce the population of homeless people.  What they have done so far has resulted in an increase in the homeless population.  One thing they have not tried is taxing the homeless for sleeping on the streets.  That might sound crazy, but if you want less of something tax it.  It would give the police the authority to force those who refused to pay to move on.  You do not have these kinds of problems in Texas where the police do not allow them to set up homeless encampments.

Ironically LA is pretty aggressive at policing those who live in RV's that they park along the streets.  They have escalating fines against those who live in old or RVs and cars.  Why not take the same approach to those living in tents on the streets?