California Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton is demanding answers about $24 billion in homelessness funding that the state cannot account for. He is also highlighting Gov. Gavin Newsom’s decision to veto legislation seeking an audit of the money.

Hilton discussed the controversy with nutritionist and media personality Jillian Michaels. He described a “Homeless Industrial Complex” that allows organizations and developers to collect enormous amounts of taxpayer money while homelessness remains unresolved.

His first target was the network of so-called nonprofits receiving millions of dollars to provide services for homeless people. Hilton argued that those organizations are not producing meaningful improvements and instead use public funding to sustain themselves.

His complaint was blunt: “just don't do anything useful with [the money], except keep themselves going. It's an employment program.”

Trump's Sovereign Wealth Fund: What Could It Mean For Your Money?

Hilton said concerns about the homelessness spending prompted a Republican legislator in the state legislature to request a review by the state auditor. He described the auditor as independent of politics.

The result was hardly reassuring for California taxpayers. Hilton quoted the auditor’s finding: “There's $24 billion where we have no idea where it went.”

Hilton added another damning line from the finding: “We can't find it, or what it did.” The staggering uncertainty eventually attracted attention beyond the Republican minority.

According to Hilton, even Democrats in the heavily Democrat controlled state legislature became concerned about the scale of the problem. They passed legislation calling for a more substantial audit of homelessness spending.

FREE Gun Law Map: Laws Don't Pause During Social Unrest

Hilton described the political atmosphere this way: “The state legislature, which is two-thirds Democrat-controlled, complete Democrat machine… They passed a bill saying… it was too much even for them.”

The legislature’s message, as Hilton recounted it, was: “Let's have a real audit of this homelessness money.” Newsom then vetoed the measure approved by what Hilton called the governor’s own Democrat supermajority.

Hilton’s criticism extended beyond missing accountability and into the structure of the homelessness industry itself. He identified nonprofit service providers as one major component of a system that keeps receiving money without getting homeless people off drugs or into better circumstances.

Hilton argued that restrictions prevent the organizations from using the money for drug rehabilitation or other efforts that might help people escape addiction. In his view, the arrangement becomes a job creation program for employees of taxpayer-funded nonprofits.

He pointed to a Los Angeles organization as a particularly glaring example. Hilton said: “By the way, just the other day in L.A., [we found] a homelessness nonprofit run by a lady who makes $1.6 million a year salary… She lives in Hawaii.”

WATCH:

Hilton was evidently referring to Carol Adelkoff of the 1736 Family Crisis Center. About 94% of the center’s revenue comes from government grants and other taxpayer funds.

Nonprofits, however, were not the largest part of the system Hilton described. He said developers and builders represent an even bigger component, with a small group profiting from the construction of permanent supportive housing.

Those projects consist of apartment units intended for homeless people, but Hilton said developers charge “a million dollars a door.” That price, he argued, is far beyond the actual construction cost.

Hilton cited a friend who builds apartments in the Bay Area and estimated the real cost at probably $250,000 per unit. He said the inflated price results from requirements involving union labor, designated suppliers for materials such as concrete, and other costly conditions layered onto the projects.

Hilton’s assessment was unsparing: “It's a scam. I mean, this is what's been going on.” His account depicts a California homelessness system where billions cannot be tracked, nonprofits thrive on public money, developers charge extraordinary prices, and Newsom blocked another audit.

WATCH:

The opinions expressed by contributors and/or content partners are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Objectivist. Contact us for guidelines on submitting your own commentary.