At the beginning of 2023, there were an estimated 3,842 unhoused people in the

state of New Mexico, according to a point-in-time count conducted each year by the

New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness. (Fisher, 2023) Homelessness has been a

problem that plagues all urban areas in the United States. It is a problem that is

extremely difficult to solve due to the consequences of any decisions made. Our

government tries to solve homelessness by throwing money at the problem, not the

solution. They let out-of-state corporations buy up housing for gentrification. They also

need to provide more services to the homeless population. The US government needs

to create a stronger safety net for people to help the issue of homelessness.

The main reason homelessness has gotten so bad is because of how our

government responds to them. The government has a trend of throwing money at

problems, hoping to solve the issue; homelessness is no exception. The problem is that

it is never that simple. In 2024, Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requested $3.7

billion for Homeless Assistance Grants (HAG) and $3.4 billion for Continuum of Care

(CoC). (HUD, 2024) (Housing and Urban Development, 2024, 1) This money is used to

help people who are or about to be homeless. The issue lies in our safety net, which is

so low that people have difficulty recovering from the fall. Twenty percent of our

taxpayer money goes into military spending. (a TurboTax Expert, 2022) If we can cut

money from dead-end programs, we can have more money to put into HUD but even if

the money from HUD can help people experiencing homelessness, it does not stop

people from becoming homeless. According to the Government Accountability Office

(GAO), “Federal agencies spent $10.1 trillion in fiscal year 2021. But $131.8 billion of

that was not reported, according to USAspending.gov—the official source of

government spending data. Additionally, it was not always clear how the total $10.1

trillion was spent or if the data displayed is accurate.” (Government Accountability

Office, 2022) If the amount of money that was not accounted for was used specifically

for the issue of homelessness, the issue would decrease to the point where

homelessness is not an issue in the US.

It is hard to get out of homelessness if the price of housing rises considerably.

This is partially the fault of corporations and greedy landlords buying apartment

buildings and houses and then inflating the rent. Most people can barely afford rent

nowadays, so raising rent by a corporation or a greedy landlord can cause people to be

put out and then stuck on the street. According to the Albuquerque Journal, “More

outside investors are buying multifamily properties around the metro area, which could

be a boon for Albuquerque's aging housing stock, with many investors promising

renovations and updates post-purchase. But tenants from several buildings around the

city have reached out to the Journal over the past months, detailing rent hikes,

problems with maintenance, and unexpected lease non-renewals after ownership

changed hands.” (Mencinger, 2023) Restrictions must be implemented to keep

out-of-state corporations from buying and gentrifying apartments that displace their

residents in favor of higher-income individuals. According to the Stop Predatory

Investing Act, a bill proposed by a small group of senators, “Prohibits an investor who

acquires 50 or more single-family rental homes from deducting interest or depreciation

on those properties.

● Incentivize big investors to sell single-family rental homes back to homeowners

or nonprofits in the community.

 ● Support affordable rental housing and the construction of new housing supply by

allowing owners to continue to take deductions on properties that are financed

using Low-Income Housing Tax Credits or that are newly constructed for rental.

● Protect renters who live in existing single-family rental housing by not disallowing

deductions for single-family rental homes purchased before enactment.”

(UNITED STATES SENATE COMMITTEE ON BANKING, HOUSING, AND

URBAN AFFAIRS, 2023) If this bill is accepted, it can go a long way to help the

homeless and others get into affordable housing.

One of the biggest problems homeless people face is access to affordable

healthcare since most of the homeless population experiences not only mental but also

physical ailments. The reason it hasn’t been solved comes down to our government.

The democratic half of our government pushes for completely free healthcare. The

problem with that is the waiting time. With free healthcare, Canada and most European

countries face the problem of time. If somebody has a non-urgent issue like a bad

rotating cuff in their shoulder, they might have to wait over a month before being able to

see a doctor. Although the homeless population would gladly wait to see the doctor in

the hope that they will be able to get cured, it is hard to wait as an average citizen to get

help. That is why we pay for healthcare, to be seen immediately. On the other side,

Republicans want to keep our healthcare system the way it is and are highly against the

“socialist ideals” of the Democrats. This back-and-forth between both sides of our

government leads to many of our issues with problems not getting solved, and when

they do, it almost seems overly compromised due to one side wanting their way.

According to Neil Hackket Jr., a political scientist on LinkedIn, “I could tell very quickly
that the people on the other side of the argument were not going to be looking for the

same thing I was, they quickly resorted to lazy attacks such as calling people names,

using tiresome and petty names like “Libtard” and “YObamaMama”. I dropped out of the

pointless exchange but others kept on arguing their points while refuting counterpoints.

By the end of the conversation there were threats of lawyers being called and

complaints made to LinkedIn to try and get accounts blocked or removed. The

conversation ended just about as I thought it would because people on both sides of the

issue were in it to win rather than in to find the truth.”(Hackett, 2015). Rules need to be

set in place that try to control the flow of conversation between both parties in the

House and the Senate so that solutions can be found and decrease the “I’m

Democrat/Republican so I’m right, and you are wrong” attitude. By doing that, Congress

can come to a consensus on decisions that affect people positively and how to provide

proper healthcare to the homeless however that may need to be done.

The question is, how does all this impact homelessness? The answer is

everything. By putting the government's money where its mouth is and using federal

money more efficiently, we can have more money to put into HUD to increase the safety

net and overall life of our citizens, homeless or not. Limiting corporations’ ability to

gentrify apartments means more affordable housing for those who need it using the

Stop Predatory Investing Act. Lastly, by changing Congress to a place where it is not a

middle school debate class, we can develop healthcare solutions that benefit everyone

without names being called and reputations destroyed in the name of politics. However,

our government will not take the necessary actions, so it is up to We The People to

make changes that impact our community positively and vote out the people
responsible for causing these problems in the first place. We, the people, Stand with the

people.
 References

Fisher, A. (2023, July 14). As many as 20000 New Mexicans experience homelessness

over the course of the year • Source New Mexico. Source New Mexico. Retrieved

March 19, 2024, from

https://sourcenm.com/2023/07/14/as-many-of-20000-new-mexicans-experience-

homelessness-over-the-course-of-the-year/

Government Accountability Office. (2022, July 26). Federal Spending Data Quality—Is

This As Good As It Gets? Auditors Say It Can Be Better. Government

Accountability Office. Retrieved March 20, 2024, from

https://www.gao.gov/blog/federal-spending-data-quality-good-it-gets-auditors-say

-it-can-be-better

Hackett, N. (2105, October 12). Arguing Politics Versus Finding Solutions. Linkedin.

Retrieved March 19, 2024, from

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/arguing-politics-versus-finding-solutions-neil-hack

ett-mpa?trk=portfolio_article-card_title

Housing and Urban Development. (2024). Homeless Assistance Grants SUMMARY OF

RESOURCES.

https://www.hud.gov/sites/dfiles/CFO/documents/2024_CJ_Program_HAG.pdf

Intuit Turbotax. (2023, October 19). Where Tax Dollars are Spent - TurboTax Tax Tips &

Videos. TurboTax. Retrieved March 19, 2024, from

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/general/where-tax-dollars-are-spent/L0CBBjj5

M
Mencinger, A. (2023, May 6). What's behind Albuquerque's skyrocketing apartment

rents? | Local News | abqjournal.com. Albuquerque Journal. Retrieved March 19,

2024, from

https://www.abqjournal.com/news/local/whats-behind-albuquerques-skyrocketing

-apartment-rents/article_cd15e5cc-e405-5aa7-b19c-8c5a754e4611.html

UNITED STATES SENATE COMMITTEE ON BANKING, HOUSING, AND URBAN

AFFAIRS. (2023, July 11). Brown, Colleagues Introduce Bill to Crack Down on

Big Corporate Investors that Buy Up Local Homes, Drive Up Housing Prices |

United States Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Senate

Banking Committee. Retrieved March 19, 2024, from

https://www.banking.senate.gov/newsroom/majority/brown-colleagues-introduce-

bill-crack-down-big-corporate-investors-buy-up-local-homes-drive-housing-prices