California lawmakers approve $2 billion for homeless housing

California senators have approved a $2 billion bond to build permanent housing for mentally ill homeless people.|
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BY ASSOCIATED PRESS

SACRAMENTO - California senators have approved a $2 billion bond to build permanent housing for mentally ill homeless people.

The plan senators passed would use money from an existing fund for mental health care financed by a tax on millionaires that voters approved in 2004.

It requires counties to provide supportive services for people housed with state aid.

Democratic leaders proposed the plan in January and Gov. Jerry Brown has endorsed it. The Senate approved AB1618 on a 35-1 vote Monday, sending it to the Assembly.

Democratic Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon of Los Angeles says homelessness and mental illness affect everyone. He praised the Legislature for crafting a creative, bipartisan measure.

Federal housing officials estimate more than 29,000 homeless Californians were living with serious mental illness in 2015.

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