Proposition 95: Food, Shelter For Needy : Campaign for Initiative to Aid Homeless Begins
Backers of Proposition 95--the Hunger and Homelessness Funding Initiative--Tuesday kicked off their campaign for passage of the ballot measure that would raise as much as $90 million annually for housing, food and job-training programs by slapping new fines on health, safety and building code violators.
Proponents say the initiative is the first comprehensive, statewide approach to dealing with the problems of hunger and homelessness that would not use any tax dollars.
“We’ll let the slumlords and restaurant owners who endanger our health pay for the problems of hunger and homelessness,” said Board of Equalization member Conway Collis, a leading backer of the measure.
A core group of business, labor and community leaders and Hollywood stars Jon Voight, Susan Dey and Valerie Harper took that message statewide Tuesday with a series of meetings with supporters and the media at homeless shelters in six California cities from San Diego to San Francisco.
In the first such meeting, at the Valley Shelter in North Hollywood, Collis asked supporters: “How can we look our children and grandchildren in the eye--or ourselves in the mirror--if we continue to allow people to live on the streets of every town and city in California? . . . It’s time to show that we care.”
Gene Boutilier, homeless coordinator for the Los Angeles United Way, said Proposition 95 “is desperately needed to provide funds for places like the Valley Shelter,” which provides rooms to homeless families while they search for work. He said each of the 105 shelters operating in the county, faces “a survival problem” just as grim as that of the people they serve.
Boutilier said Los Angeles’ minimum share of the projected funds under Proposition 95 is more than that now supplied to the area under all state and federal homeless programs combined.
So far, the idea has met with strong support from potential voters. Proposition 95 was the first initiative to make its way onto the November ballot after an aggressive signature-gathering campaign.
And in the latest California Poll, 70% of those asked said they supported the measure, while 18% were opposed and 12% were undecided.
But Proposition 95 is facing some organized opposition from building owners, restaurant owners and grocery trade associations, which object to their members being singled out to shoulder a burden that affects all of society.
And despite the fact that no tax dollars would be required to operate the program, the measure is also being opposed by the California Taxpayers Assn.
Officials at the organization that lobbies on tax matters said they oppose earmarking revenue sources to pay for specific government programs.
But supporters of Proposition 95 say the tax group is simply bowing to pressure from its business members in the industries most affected by the measure.
Some businessmen, such as developer and apartment owner Albert Gersten, are supporting Proposition 95 because it is “the most cost-effective and business-like approach” to dealing with the problems.
At least one trade organization--the California Business Properties Assn., representing 7,000 shopping center and office building owners statewide--is supporting the initiative because it addresses the problems of hunger and homelessness without raising taxes, Executive Director Rex Hime said in an interview.
And numerous labor organizations are also supporting the measure, including the Los Angeles County AFL-CIO, said Bill Robertson, executive secretary of the labor group who spoke in favor of the measure Tuesday.
Supporting Prop. 95
Most of the organizations opposing Proposition 95--including California Taxpayers Assn.--are supporting Proposition 84, the Housing and Homeless Bond Act of 1988, as an alternative.
Proposition 84, proposed by state Sen. David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles), would raise $300 million through bond sales to build emergency and permanent low-cost housing.
But proponents of the two measures say they both should be supported. Backers call the combination a “one-two punch” and “the hardware and software” for dealing with the problems of homelessness and hunger in the state.
The two camps are in support of each other’s efforts, but they are keeping their campaigns separate.
And both agree that their biggest fear is voter confusion and apathy.
The Proposition 95 campaign, under the banner of Californians Working Together, is hoping to raise nearly $1 million to advertise the measure and keep it from getting lost in a sea of 29 ballot measures.
One theme being used in brochures is: “If you stay home this Election Day, someone else will stay homeless.”
According to Collis, Proposition 95 could raise $50 million to $90 million in its first year and fund an additional $150 million in revenue bonds.
New Fines on Violations
The funds would be raised from new fines of several hundred dollars each on violations of safety, health and building code violations.
In order to receive their share of the funds, counties would be required to submit a plan for addressing the homeless problem to a new state agency. The plans would be required to include a wide variety of traditional services--such as housing, medical assistance, drug and alcohol abuse programs and job training--and would also have to offer some innovative plans, such as a revolving fund that would act as a bank to lend homeless workers the money necessary to get established.
The initiative would also establish a California Savings Bond, modeled after the federal program, that would be sold in small denominations of $25, $50 and $100. The bonds would be used to finance low-income housing.
