SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A new legislative committee, led by Sen. Richard Alarcon, will begin a two-year study of poverty in California, Alarcon and others said Monday.

Joined by actor Ed Begley Jr., Alarcon, D-San Fernando, said the Select Committee on the Status of Ending Poverty in California would study poverty and recommend ways the Legislature can fight it.

Begley, best known for his role on the 1980s television drama "St. Elsewhere," joined Alarcon, labor leaders and homeless rights activists at Loaves and Fishes, a homeless shelter here that provides employment services, health care and food to homeless families.

More than 4.3 million people lived in poverty last year in California, which has the second-highest rate of "relative poverty" in the country, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.

Alarcon said the committee will help put a human face on the poor.

The final report, expected in two years, "will not only have statistical information related to poverty, but it will also paint a picture," Alarcon said.

The committee will hold its first hearing Wednesday.