More than Spare Change: A Case Study of Contact and Voter Support for the Homeless in Los Angeles County, California

Abstract

Research on local welfare spending for individuals and families experiencing homelessness has characterized such spending as severely limited and constrained. Studies on fiscal federalism have argued that competition between local governments prevents leaders from spending much, if anything, to assist the homeless. County governments may be further constrained from providing assistance by state constitutions or statutes. Finally, local businesses may organize and lobby for punitive, rather than ameliorative, local treatment of the homeless. In this study, we argue that ordinary voters matter for local spending for the homeless, particularly in states where they are empowered to affect local government spending through ballot propositions. Accordingly, we mobilize data from a ballot initiative in Los Angeles County and present an exploratory study of the determinants of voter support for homelessness relief. We find that range of factors, particularly partisanship and contact with the homeless, strongly predict support for spending on the homeless.