( Sacramento , CA ) – Assuring that every Californian can have a home would be the goal of a joint committee proposed by Assembly Speaker Pro Tempore Sally Lieber, D-San Jose.

"Less than 30 years ago, virtually every child, every adult who was willing to work, and everyone who was unable to work could have someplace to call home. Has our state become so impoverished, economically or morally, that we can't aim for a home for every Californian once again?" Assemblywoman Lieber said.

Lieber's Assembly Concurrent Resolution 61 would establish a Joint Committee on Homelessness in California to conduct hearings around the state and develop legislation for consideration in 2008.  It also would oversee the administration's plans to end chronic and family homelessness.

“Proposing a joint Assembly-Senate committee indicates the high priority that ending homelessness should receive,” Lieber said.  The Legislature has just six joint committees, compared with 133 Assembly or Senate committees or subcommittees.

A strong example for the necessity of the joint committee appeared today with the release of Santa Clara County ’s 2007 Homeless Census and Survey.  Over 7,000 people were counted on the county’s streets during two nights.  The county estimates that over 18,000 people were homeless throughout the year.  Many communities throughout the state see similar numbers and most homeless counts are considered under-counts given the difficulty of finding all those without housing.

The Santa Clara County Homeless Census and Survey is available at: www.sccgov.org/SCC/docs%2FSCC%20Public%20Portal%2Fattachments%2FHomelCountFinal07.pdf

Assemblyman Dave Jones is the joint author of ACR 61.  Assemblymembers Jim Beall Jr., Patty Berg, Joe Coto, Mike Davis, Hector De La Torre, Mervyn Dymally, Mike Feuer, John Laird, Mark Leno, Lloyd Levine, Fiona Ma, Gene Mullin, Pedro Nava, Lori Saldaña, Jose Solorio, Sandré Swanson, and Alberto Torrico and Senators Gilbert Cedillo, Sheila James Kuehl, Mark Ridley-Thomas, Darrell Steinberg, and Leland Yee are the coauthors.