Homelessness is one of the crippling problems that the state of California is facing today, which is why state senators are addressing this problem and proposed a $2 billion housing project.

According to a report by the Los Angeles Times, the $2 billion housing project is intended to build or rehabilitate permanent housing for homeless people living in the streets.

The housing bond would be enough to help local governments to construct more than 10,000 housing units primarily for those with mental illness when it's combined with other federal and local money, said Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon.

Sen. Ricardo Lara also voiced his concern and said, "It is despicable that in the richest state, that is the state of California, that just last night thousands of Californians laid their tired bodies on a sidewalk or on a cardboard."

NBC Bay Area reported that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's 2015 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress said that nearly 116,000 people are homeless in the state of California -- more than a fifth of the nation's homeless population.

Also in the same report, it projected that more than 29,000 are chronically homeless in the state. The Los Angeles' homeless population have increased more than 10 percent in the last two years, thereby prompting the state senators to propose a solution.

The LA City Council also declared a homelessness crisis back in November, as it prepared to change city ordinances to let people temporarily live in their cars and sleep on sidewalks. Also back in October, the LA County Board of Supervisors declared a "shelter crisis" because of concerns that strong winter storms could flood homeless camped along storm drains and riverbeds.

On the other hand, the neighboring Orange County is buying a $4.25 million warehouse to make a 200-bed capacity homeless shelter.

In a related report by Fox News, the proposed $2 billion bond would be repaid with money from Proposition 63, which was the 2004 ballot measure that added one percent tax on incomes over $1 million to pay for mental health treatment.

Furthermore, the senators also proposed an additional financial support for families living on welfare that is facing the possibility of homelessnes and an increase in the state's supplemental security income payments to 1.3 million elderly, blind and disabled poor people who cannot work.

According to an official, the additional programs would cost about $100 million or more.

Theresea Winkler, a former homeless person said, "It's not fun for people, particularly women, to lie in the dirt," she said. "By having housing, my life has been given a purpose."