Western Center On Law & Poverty

Yesterday, LA Forward Institute and community members, represented by Western Center, Public Counsel,and Strumwasser & Woocher filed a lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles for obstructing the 140-unit Venice Dell Community affordable and permanent supportive housing project in Venice. As legal counsel, our work to support the construction of affordable housing projects like VENICE DELL are vital to protect the rights of all people to have safe and affordable housing. This project has been approved by both the Coastal Commission and the LA City Council. But delay tactics illustrate the pattern of discrimination that hinder many projects like this. As stated in the suit, select City staff "seek to defeat the Project not by democratic means in the City Council... but to use their offices to tie the Project up in red tape outside of public view."

BREAKING: In a profoundly disappointing ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court today decided that the US Constitution does not protect homeless people against cruel and unusual punishment, even when they have no choice to sleep in public using things like blankets or pillows. Arresting or fining people for trying to survive is expensive, counterproductive, and cruel. This inhumane ruling, which goes against the values of nearly three-quarters of Americans, will make homelessness worse in Grants Pass and nationwide. Cities are now even more empowered to neglect proven housing-based solutions and to arrest or fine those with no choice but to sleep outdoors. While we are disappointed, we are not surprised that this Supreme Court ruled against the interests of our poorest neighbors. This ruling will also adversely impact BIPOC communities and individuals, who are disproportionately unhoused and often targeted merely for being present in public spaces. The Court's ruling does not change Western Center's work. We remain steadfastly committed to evidence-based solutions to homelessness. We remain committed to holding public officials accountable in addressing the needs of people living on our streets. And we remain fiercely committed to housing, not handcuffs, for our unhoused neighbors. _______________________________________ Read our Official Statement here: https://lnkd.in/gCxpUdGW

BREAKING: In a historically shameful decision, the Supreme Court has ruled in #JohnsonVGrantsPass that homeless people are not included in the Constitution’s protections against cruel and unusual punishment. This ruling will make homelessness drastically worse and impact the 250,000+ people who sleep outside each night, as well as millions of Americans who are just one missed paycheck away from homelessness. Arresting or fining people for trying to survive is expensive, counterproductive, cruel, and simply does not work. We are enraged but unsurprised that the Supreme Court sided with out-of-touch billionaires and against the poorest among us. #HousingNotHandcuffs To truly solve homelessness, we demand the Biden administration and Congress invest at least $356 billion in transforming approaches to homelessness away from criminalization and towards proven housing-based solutions. Read our full statement: https://lnkd.in/eFy7GFuu

AB 846 (Bonta), our cosponsored bill, is out of Senate Housing! This is such a huge milestone to protecting the most vulnerable tenants. The LIHTC program is a critical source of affordable housing funding for low-income, elderly, and tenants with disabilities. The program provides deed-restricted units for tenants at 80% AMI and below. However, there are no assurances that a tenant's rent will remain affordable over time. In fact, since LIHTC rents are tied to AMI and not to the tenant's actual income, every time AMI rises, so does the rent. We have seen rent increases of up to 50% for elderly tenants. This rent gouging needs to stop. AB 846 will require the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee, which oversees LIHTC, to prevent price gouging by establishing a limit on rent increase in existing LIHTC properties. Thank you Assemblywoman Bonta for advocating for some of the most vulnerable tenants. We look forward to continuing the fight in Senate Judiciary and beyond.

Western Center is searching for its next Executive Director - please help us spread the word!

Thank you to Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP for coming on as Lead Sponsor of this year's Poverty Is Not a Joke! Event sponsorships are SOLD OUT and only 20 tickets remain! Don't miss out on this much needed night of laughter and community as we raise funds for our work to eradicate poverty and advance racial justice! Tickets at: bit.ly/PINAJ24

TWO WEEKS from today! Join Western Center for the 2nd annual Poverty Is Not a Joke comedy benefit at Dynasty Typewriter. This year’s lineup includes: Chris Estrada (co-creator and star of Hulu's This Fool), Robin Tran (That's My Time with David Letterman), Felicia Folkes, + Chike Robinson (Netflix Is A Joke Fest's A Kid From Flint)! Funds raised support Western Center’s work to advance racial and economic justice by making health care affordable, housing accessible, and safety net programs readily available to the 7M+ Californians living in poverty. Tickets: bit.ly/PINAJ24 Special thanks to our sponsors: Paul Hastings, Susman Godfrey LLP, Scharff PC, Baker McKenzie, O'Melveny & Myers LLP, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates & Alexa Carpena-Rousso at Upholder Collective. Special thanks to our incredible Advisory Board members/event committee: Ankush Dhupar, Ellie Dupler, Justine Daniels, Eric Greenberg, Michelle Coquelin, Spencer Scharff, Heather Masterton, MA, CFRE, Nora Olagbaju, Xochi Flores & Jason Rivera!  

Congratulations, Sandra Poole, MPA on this well deserved honor. We are grateful for your leadership and all that you do to advance health equity in California.

Our advocates and partners have been working hard to move bills forward as California's multibillion budget deficit looms large. Last week, 5 of our bills made it out of the suspense file, bringing us one step closer to transformative change for Californians with low incomes. #CALeg #BudgetRevise #Suspense #Health #Housing #RacialJustice #HousingIsAHumanRight #BlackBirthingJustice #environmentaljustice

Two of our co-sponsored housing bills are on the Floor this week: AB 2304 (Lee) will apply CA's masking laws to all unlawful detainer cases, as was intended in the original law. AB 2347 (Kalra) will ensure that tenants' due process rights are protected by requiring a proof of service to be filed before the landlord can request a default and give tenants more time to fight eviction cases. The first time tenants find out about an eviction case shouldn't be when the sheriff comes to their door. Wish us luck as we fight for housing justice!