80 - The 2020 Homeless Deaths Report (8.7.2020)

Sacramento County saw yet another increase in deaths in the homeless community in 2019, according to an annual report by the Sacramento Regional Coalition to End Homelessness.
 
One marked outlier in these numbers is just how deeply impacted Black county residents are affected by homelessness. Despite making up 13% of the county's population, one in three people experiencing homelessness in 2019 was Black. They made up 28% of last year's recorded homeless deaths.
 
California may be experiencing the worst of the country's homelessness crisis, but at least we also have the most billionaires! In fact, if we were our own country, we'd rank third in the world behind the US and China for hosting the most billionaires, at 165.
 
So maybe, given our historic levels of poverty and homelessness, it's about time to make the rich pay closer to their fair share. Enter Assembly Bill 1253, which would bump the rate that the state's richest pay in taxes in the following ways: 1% for taxable incomes over $1 million, 3% for incomes over $2 million and 3.5% for incomes over $5 million.
 
In our view, the percentages should continue to increase all the way into the billions (remember: every billionaire is a policy failure), but it's a start.
 
Speaking of struggling, some 15% of Californians are jobless, and relying on unemployment benefits. Over in Washington, DC, the GOP has been trying to cut those benefits at the federal level, but it sounds like there may be talk of reinstating at least a portion of the weekly payments.
 
Thanks for listening, eat the rich and, as always:

Patreon: patreon.com/voicesrivercity

Twitter: @youknowkempa, @guillotine4you, @ShanNDSTevens, @Flojaune

And thank you to Be Brave Bold Robot for the tunes.