“We are going to offer them a chance to stay warm this winter,” Anchorage, Alaska, Mayor Dave Bronson stated regarding the growing homeless population. Eight people died of exposure last year, and Bronson said it is cheaper to pay for a one-way flight than to create makeshift housing. Bronson said a one-way ticket to LA would cost the city about $286 per person. In comparison, the city would need to spend over $100 daily for temporary shelter.
The program has not been funded or approved. Obviously, LA is not too happy about the announcement. “Someone says, ‘I want to go to Los Angeles or San Diego or Seattle or Kansas,’ it’s not our business,” Bronson said of their final destination. “My job is to make sure they don’t die on Anchorage streets.” About 40% of Alaska’s population lives in Anchorage, but they host 65% of the homeless population. “The taxpayers to whom I’m responsible to can’t keep footing the entire bill,” he said. “We need a statewide solution to a statewide problem.”
LA Mayor Karen Bass declared a state of emergency in 2022 regarding the growing homeless population. “It will create the structure necessary for us to have a true, unified and citywide strategy to set us on the path to solve homelessness,” Bass said after promising to house at least 17,000 people during her first year in office. This was before the US-Mexico border was opened to the world. The homeless population in LA continues to grow at a record pace.
No one knows exactly what to do about the growing homeless problem in America. Our politicians are willing to send hundreds of billions to Ukraine but refuse to address the issues we face at home.
