According to the most recent homeless count, there are 75,000 unhoused people in Los Angeles County on any given night, and not nearly enough temporary beds, permanent housing units or funding to provide adequate care for those experiencing homelessness.
With rising housing costs and many low-income families at the brink of experiencing housing insecurity, we urgently need bold and transformative long-term solutions to prevent homelessness and solve our housing crisis. While efforts to date have helped combat symptoms of the issue, like homelessness, they are simply not enough to address the core issue: a lack of affordable homes.
Los Angeles County needs a permanent and dedicated source of funding for affordable housing – and Measure A is our best opportunity.
Long-term solutions like Measure A provide the essential funding needed to effectively address and prevent homelessness, while also funding the preservation and production of affordable homes. Enterprise is proud to support Measure A and looks forward to supporting its successful implementation.
Jimar Wilson, VP and Southern California Market Leader
At Enterprise we are committed to advancing innovative housing models and new financing approaches that both expand resources for the production and preservation of affordable homes for low- and moderate-income Californians and ensure those experiencing homelessness can receive the housing and supportive services they need.
But we recognize that our current housing and financing systems are not working, and that it will take a bold new way to make housing affordable for Los Angeles County residents.
Measure A: Housing, Safety & Homeless Prevention Now
If successful, Measure A would repeal the existing Measure H sales tax and raise it to a half-cent sales tax for affordable housing production, preservation, and homelessness prevention services. Recently endorsed by the L.A. Times and backed by experts, frontline service providers, labor unions, housing advocates, and dozens of community organizations, Measure A would increase accountability by legally requiring that programs achieve the following specific goals:
- Increase the number of people permanently leaving homelessness
- Increase the number of people moving from encampments into permanent housing Increase the number of affordable housing units in L.A. County
- Reduce the number of people with a mental illness and/or substance use disorder experiencing homelessness
- Reduce the number of people falling into homelessness
Measure H has successfully moved people out of homelessness as it was designed to do, but Measure A prevents people from falling into homelessness by increasing funding for programs like emergency rental assistance, and more importantly, investing in preservation and new production.
Unlike Measure H, Measure A would provide the catalytic funding to plan, build, and preserve affordable homes countywide through the creation and implementation of the Los Angeles County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency. In this way, Measure A addresses the root cause of our housing crisis: a significant undersupply and underproduction of affordable housing which has led to some of the highest rents in the country.
As Greg Colburn and Clayton P. Aldern argue, homelessness is a housing problem and high rents correlate to high levels of homelessness.
What’s at stake?
Existing funding under Measure H is set to expire at the end of 2026. This means that, if Measure A does not pass, this could leave over 50,000 people without housing and/or supportive services and could increase homelessness by 28%. Measure A would continue to fund these services, while also ensuring that less people fall into homelessness.
While cities and counties across the state combat rising rents with band-aid solutions and temporary relief, voters in Los Angeles County have an opportunity to take bold action this fall by saying Yes to Measure A.
Here at Enterprise, we are proud to join the dozens of coalition partners who have formally endorsed Measure A and are inspired by the collective efforts powering the campaign.
Learn more about Measure A and how to get involved.
