Addressing local homeless crisis
Rep. Maxine Waters (CA-43), the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, issued the following statement after last week’s meeting with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and delegation of California mayors from the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ Task Force on Homelessness to discuss solutions to addressing the growing affordable housing and homelessness crisis in California and across the country. Her statement reads as follows:
“I was pleased to meet with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and a delegation of mayors from across the State of California to discuss collaborative solutions to help end our nation’s affordable housing and homelessness crisis, including looking into the use of project-based vouchers to increase supply and expanding access to housing for homeless veterans.
“I was also pleased to discuss my bills, the ‘Housing Crisis Response Act,’ the ‘Ending Homelessness Act,’ and the ‘Downpayment Toward Equity Act’ and initiatives I am spearheading in Congress. This includes my effort to empower local leaders, such as mayors and city councils, in taking stronger, affirmative steps to leverage zoning and land use authorities, bolster the development of fair and affordable housing, and combat homelessness in humane and cost-effective ways.
“As I mentioned during today’s meeting, the federal government cannot end this crisis alone. We must all work together to end this crisis and make housing for all a reality. Local governments should take a closer look at underutilized solutions such as streamlining and improving building codes and permitting processes, eliminating exclusionary and restrictive zoning, and creating public databases of city-owned land to help local developers build the affordable housing that is needed to serve the lowest income families.
“[The] discussion underscored the importance of federal and local coordination to address these pressing issues and pave the way for interventions that will help increase that availability of affordable, integrated, and resilient housing for all. Together, we will solve this crisis.”
