As a state legislator from Orange County, Sharon Quirk-Silva is at the center of the region's big, contentious conversation about homelessness.

But for her, it's personal.

Her younger brother, Raymond William "Billy" Jaso, died last year after living on the streets and crashing with relatives for many years. He struggled with alcohol addiction. In October he was fatally hit by a car. He was 53.

It was something of a turning point for Quirk-Silva.

"We can't continue to see people die on our streets," she said through tears at a recent meeting of Orange County's Medi-Cal insurer, CalOptima.

As a public official, Quirk-Silva has wrestled with the fallout of homelessness for almost a decade. In 2011, while she was on Fullerton's City Council, a schizophrenic homeless man named Kelly Thomas, died at the hands of Fullerton police officers. The incident caused a national public outcry and led to the recall of three city councilmembers.

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“California taxpayers should not be unwitting donors to criminal actions of bribery and tax evasion,” said Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva.  “My bill will prohibit such deductions, and will go after those who have already been able to profit from these illicit tax deductions.”

The measure brought to the Assembly, removes the ability of those involved in providing these payoffs, to be able to recover a portion of the bribe from California taxpayers by means of a tax deduction. Deceit and bribery have no place in our college admissions process.