This article proves the point—government and politicians lie. You hear the Governor or a legislator tell the benefits and “no cost” to a new government program—it is a scam. Who benefits? Not the homeless, not the kids, not the families or small businesses. The beneficiaries are the attorneys, lobbyists, corporation and unions.
“In Oakland, four brand-new townhomes that will house between eight and 12 homeless people rent-free have been sitting empty for about a year even as thousands of people sleep on the streets — partly due to the city’s complex permitting and code requirements, the Mercury News reports. Requirements for the townhome project include building parking spaces — even though most residents won’t have cars — and painting vents on the roof.
And in San Francisco, at least 400 homeless people have been waiting more than a year to move into permanent supportive housing units — even though 888 were vacant as of Feb. 22, according to a stunning investigation from ProPublica and the San Francisco Public Press.”
What homeless crisis? We have a government crisis. In L.A. they built affordable housing, using bond money. The cost PER unite? $863,000. Unions and greedy corporations made out like bandits.
Housing, wages, health: California programs struggle to live up to goals
BY EMILY HOEVEN, CalMatters, 3/3/22
IN SUMMARY
The gap between the goals of California programs intended to help low-income residents and the reality is evident in key areas.
The gap between the goals of government programs intended to help low-income and vulnerable Californians and the reality many of those residents experience was made evident Wednesday in a number of key areas:
— Housing
- In Oakland, four brand-new townhomes that will house between eight and 12 homeless people rent-free have been sitting empty for about a year even as thousands of people sleep on the streets — partly due to the city’s complex permitting and code requirements, the Mercury News reports. Requirements for the townhome project include building parking spaces — even though most residents won’t have cars — and painting vents on the roof.
- And in San Francisco, at least 400 homeless people have been waiting more than a year to move into permanent supportive housing units — even though 888 were vacant as of Feb. 22, according to a stunning investigation from ProPublica and the San Francisco Public Press.
— Wages
- California workers trying to recover unpaid wages and benefits from their employers are entitled to a hearing in front of the state Labor Commissioner’s Office within 120 days of filing a complaint. But the statewide average wait time for a hearing last month was 812 days — nearly seven times longer, a KQED investigation found. In San Francisco, the average wait time last year was 968 days; in Oakland, it was 1,160 days.
- María Moreno, lead organizer with the Restaurant Opportunities Center of the Bay: “Our workers are not in a position to wait years for damages. By then they might already be evicted from their home, or moved on from their job.”
— Health care
- Buoyed by federal subsidies, a record 1.8 million Californians are currently enrolled in Covered California, the state’s health insurance marketplace. But if the subsidies aren’t renewed at the end of the year, more than 150,000 Californians could decide to drop their coverage due to the high cost, 1 million low-income residents would see their premiums more than double and many middle-income people would see annual cost increases in the thousands of dollars, a Covered California analysis found.
However, momentum is building in Sacramento to ease some of the financial burdens shouldered by California’s poorest residents.
- Undocumented workers — who are ineligible for many state and federal safety net programs — could collect unemployment benefits under a pilot program proposed by Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia, a Coachella Democrat.
- Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed slashing the maximum fee for late payments on traffic tickets and other fines from $300 to $150. Those fines are “exorbitant” when compared to other states’, are disproportionately levied on Californians of color and criminalize poverty, according to a new report from Debt Free Justice California.
- State Sen. Nancy Skinner, a Berkeley Democrat, introduced a bill Wednesday to limit California courts’ ability to levy high interest rates in legal judgments involving personal or consumer debt.
- And Republican lawmakers are intensifying calls to suspend California’s gas tax in the face of rising inflation and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “The cost of living is devastating families, students, seniors and our most vulnerable,” said Assemblymember Laurie Davis of Laguna Niguel.
