The CA State Legislature will consider declaring Homelessness a state of emergency! Please Share this Petition to reinforce this finding -- implement Qualcomm Stadium's Emergency Shelter Plan to respond to the Housing Disaster in San Diego. 10,000 units of affordable housing eliminated since 2010, replaced by market-rate development; median rent increased 65% since 2011; the number of Unsheltered people increased 58% in the same period; annual deaths of homeless people doubled to 114 since 2014. "When government officials declare a state of emergency, it’s often due to a natural disaster — a fire, storm or earthquake. A California lawmaker wants to add homelessness to that list. "A bill introduced last month by L.A. Assemblyman Sebastian Ridley-Thomas would add homelessness to the California Emergency Services Act, the law governing when a state of emergency can be declared and how government responds. "Such a declaration would force the state to find money and dedicate staff time to get people off the street and into housing as quickly as possible, Ridley-Thomas said. “The governor can use the extraordinary power afforded under the emergency [declaration] to move heaven and earth to reduce the homeless challenge,” he said "According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, 22 percent of the U.S. homeless population, or 118,000 people, live in California. L.A. County has the second largest homeless population in the U.S. (43,854) and San Diego County has the fourth largest (8,669). "If the law passes, California wouldn’t be the first to declare a homelessness state emergency. In 2015, Hawaii Gov. David Ige signed a proclamation that freed up state funds to address homelessness. In California, San Francisco, and both the city and county of L.A. have declared homelessness emergencies. Last year, the state Assembly passed a resolution urging Gov. Jerry Brown to declare a statewide homelessness emergency. Brown has told the L.A. Times that a statewide declaration is “not appropriate.” "In August 2002, the San Diego City Council declared a state of emergency due to a shortage of affordable housing and laid out steps to address the issue. The Council terminated the emergency declaration in December 2015 and replaced it with a resolution that declared a “commitment to affordable housing programs and services in the City of San Diego,” but did not specify any actions. "Ridley-Thomas said local efforts to reduce homelessness aren’t enough, and a focused state response will save money in the long run. He described the costs of the impacts of homelessness — larger jail populations, public health and sanitation issues — as the “most ineffective allocation of resources in government.” “'The importance of an emergency declaration is just like a natural disaster,” he said. “You have to spend quickly and intensively and then the overall cost will be reduced.” "The bill is scheduled for its first hearing on Feb. 25."