Policy & Legislation
Assembly Budget Subcommittee Takes Action to Restore EHAP
May 20, 2009
In the first step towards getting funding for the Emergency Housing and Assistance Program (EHAP) back into the state's budget, the Assembly Budget Subcommittee #4, which oversees the budget for the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), placed $4 million into EHAP in their hearing on May 18, 2009.
The budget bill language directs HCD to determine the percentage of veterans in the homeless population and to ensure that the percentage is allocated to veterans-only shelters and/or veteran-preference shelters. If the funds for veterans are not used within the fiscal year, then they would be available to all homeless providers.
Champions for restoring EHAP in the budget included the chair of the Assembly Budget Subcommittee #4 Juan Arambula (D-Fresno), Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles), and the Assembly Veterans Affairs Committee.
Since the Senate Budget Subcommittee #4 took no action on EHAP, it means EHAP's fate will be resolved in the Budget Conference Committee deliberations between the two houses, which begins on May 21, 2009.
The Senate most recently heard testimony on EHAP on April 23, 2009. At that hearing, advocates stressed the negative fiscal impact to Californians that comes with de-funding emergency shelters through other "hidden costs" to taxpayers, such as increased use of far-more-expensive jails and emergency rooms. Advocates cited examples, emphasizing how the elimination of funding at a time of drastically increased demand (resulting from the state's economic crisis) is negatively impacting communities throughout the state.
Contact: Zack Olmstead, (916) 447.0503 x108 or .
