Senator Scott Wilk, R-Santa Clarita, announced Monday that his office has submitted a formalized request on Capitol Hill to increase the funding for the state’s homeless advocacy council.

Last week, the California State Auditor released an audit requested by Wilk last spring concerning homelessness in California, and specifically the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority’s administration of public funds.

The report found that based on 2017 information from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), California leads the nation with the highest population of people experiencing homelessness — about 24 percent of the nation’s total.

Related: Audit Requested By Senator Scott Wilk On Homelessness In California Released

The report goes on to say that not only does California have the highest homeless populations statewide, but that the city of Los Angeles and L.A. County have over 55,000 homeless individuals, which is “the largest homeless population in the state.”

The audit notes that one of the reasons California faces the current homeless crisis, in contrast to places like New York and Boston, is that the state has failed to implement and fund a specific organization dedicated to addressing homelessness.

“In 2016 state law created the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council (state homeless council),” reads the report. “However, because it has no permanent staff and no funding for such staff, the state homeless council faces challenges in establishing a coordinated response to address homelessness in California.”

Now, Wilk is following up on his audit request, and asking the Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review to fully fund the California Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council.

Related: ‘Wednesdays With Wilk’ Focuses On Audit Into Homeless Program Funding (VIDEO)

“The council is in a unique position to affect real change in the way our state approaches homelessness, but without funding they are hamstrung by fiscal inability,” said Wilk. “California must do more than pay lip service to solving our state’s homeless crisis, and we cannot sincerely say to the people we are doing that if we allocate no money to the very council charged with that task.”

Wilk stated on Monday that he believes a newfound focus on funding would benefit the state as a whole, and would “ultimately pay for itself as the council is able to help local agencies get more organized and receive additional funding from the federal government through its Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).”

The request asks for $750,000 to fund full-time staff for the council, which currently has no staff at all. It will be heard by the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review, Subcommittee No. 4 on May 10.

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