California is home to a quarter of the country's homeless veterans. And, by some estimates, veterans account for as much as 20 percent of the nation's homeless population.
Sonoma County, where rental rates are high and vacancy rates are low, has about 400 homeless vets.
Proposition 41, the Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Act on the June 3 ballot, aims to provide low-cost rental housing for low-income veterans. Peter Cameron of the Santa Rosa-based Veterans Resource Centers of America played a key role in getting the $600 million bond act on the ballot.
"We see this as ultimately a permanent solution to homelessness," Cameron said last summer, shortly before Gov. Jerry Brown signed the bill to put Proposition 41 on the ballot.
That seems optimistic, but Proposition 41 undoubtedly would benefit thousands of down-on-their-luck vets.
California has a proud history of providing housing assistance for veterans. Since 1922, the Cal-Vet loan program has borrowed more than $8 billion through bond sales to help more than 400,000 veterans buy farms, houses and mobile homes at no cost to taxpayers. Recipients pay back the loans with interest, covering all of the program's costs for nine decades.
Proposition 41, by necessity, takes a different approach.
Many of the intended beneficiaries are unemployed, some are dealing with mental health and substance-abuse issues. To qualify for rental housing under Proposition 41, they can earn no more than 80 percent of average income, based on family size and county of residence. Statewide, that's about $38,000 a year.
These veterans aren't candidates for a mortgage. They need a roof over their heads and, in many cases, services to get back on their feet, so one day they might be in position to buy a home.
To that end, Proposition 41 would authorize the state to borrow $600 million to subsidize construction, acquisition and renovation of apartments and other multifamily housing units.
Financial assistance would be available to local governments, nonprofit agencies and developers, and any housing created with these funds would be rented to low- and very-low income veterans.
The bonds would be repaid with state general fund revenue, at a cost of about $50 million a year over 15 years, according to the state's nonpartisan legislative analyst.
That's less than 0.1 percent of general fund spending — a small price for helping men and women who served their country.
With the war in Afghanistan winding down and the military thinning its ranks, the number of veterans is growing. And various studies have shown that veterans are more likely than other Americans to wind up homeless.
A cold winter this year focused the public on the plight of the homeless. In listening to service agencies, we heard that the biggest need is affordable housing. Proposition 41 is an opportunity to begin addressing the need. The Press Democrat recommends a yes vote.
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