California asks Trump for housing vouchers to aid homeless

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has asked President Donald Trump to approve more housing vouchers as Trump's administration weighs in on the most populous state's massive homelessness problem.

Members of the administration visited Los Angeles last week to view the city's sprawling homeless encampments after Trump told his staff to develop policy options to address the national crisis of people living on the streets.

The Democratic governor and officials representing California cities and counties sent the Republican president a letter asserting that "shelter solves sleep, but only housing solves homelessness."

Their letter asks Trump to provide 50,000 more housing vouchers through two existing programs.

The California officials also asked Trump to create a program to encourage landlords to work better with voucher holders.