Los Angeles to declare 'state of emergency' on homelessness


A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
The city of Los Angeles plans to declare a "state of emergency" on homelessness and will dedicate $100 million to use toward housing and other services for the homeless.
The proposal was announced Tuesday by city leaders, one day after Mayor Eric Garcetti's office issued a proposal to use $13 million in anticipated excess tax revenue for short-term housing initiatives, the Los Angeles Times reports. An estimated 26,000 homeless people live in L.A., with a majority on the streets. "It's not a Skid Row problem," Councilman Gilbert Cedillo told the Times. "It's a problem that's proliferated throughout the city. If we want to be a great city that hosts the Olympics and shows itself off to the world, we shouldn't have 25,000 to 50,000 people sleeping on the streets."
A report released five months ago by City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana, the city's top budget advisor, estimated that Los Angeles spends more than $100 million a year on issues related to homelessness. Much of those costs are absorbed by the LAPD, but they're borne by other agencies as well, like parks, paramedic services, street maintenance, and libraries — an average of 680 to 780 homeless people are believed to visit each of the city's 73 libraries daily. Garcetti said Tuesday that homelessness has been a "heartbreaking crisis" in Los Angeles for decades, and it's time to "tackle it head-on."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Is Sen. Bob Menendez's refusal to resign intransigence or smart politics?
Today's Big Question The indicted New Jersey Democrat is standing firm amidst calls to step down
By Rafi Schwartz Published
-
The Stinx
Cartoons
By The Week Staff Published
-
OSIRIS-REx returns
Cartoons
By The Week Staff Published
-
More than 2,000 dead following massive earthquake in Morocco
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mexico's next president will almost certainly be its 1st female president
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
North Korea's Kim to visit Putin in eastern Russia to discuss arms sales for Ukraine war, U.S. says
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Gabon's military leader sworn in following coup in latest African uprising
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditions
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published