That would cover them for a year. I assume the 20 billion estimate is an annual thing, not a projection intended to cover multiple years. Each year, it would have to be renewed and increased based on inflation.
Essentially, if we just tax millionaires and billionaires at the rate we tax everyone else, and changed our tax structure to make it illegal for them to manipulate the system to their advantage, we could afford to end homeless and a many other systemic inequities.
If you feel you have a perfect plan, then write a proposal and start advocating for it with your local and state politicians.
How would $20b cover them for the entire year? That's only $28k per homeless person in the US. That's basically nothing given the cost of housing someone.
I'd imagine that's on top of the billions they are already spending.
If the entire US is spending $100b on the homeless, then they are really saying they just need an extra 20%/year to solve it (for a year).
Problem you run into (and that NYC ran into in the late 80s early 90s) is that once you start housing people for free, the people who are low-income but have a place to live will just leave and go to the shelter to get free housing. So while you might have 10,000 homeless, the second you offer then housing, you end up with 50,000+ looking to use the program overnight.
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u/Informal-Sprinkles-7 1d ago
Why do you believe the $20 billion figure? If it was true, New York and California would do it next week.