Mayor Karen Bass and Los Angeles city officials recently concluded a two-day trip to Sacramento, where the delegation met state leaders to highlight recent achievements and continue pushing for resources to combat homelessness, build more housing and recover from recent storms and the pandemic.
Along with Bass, the delegation included Los Angeles City Council President Paul Krekorian and Councilmembers Bob Blumenfield, Monica Rodriguez, Hugo Soto-Martinez and Eunisses Hernandez, who met with leadership from the State Senate and State Assembly, as well as Gov. Gavin Newsom and members of his cabinet.
“Gov. Newsom and his administration have been great partners to us in Los Angeles, locking arms to urgently confront the homelessness crisis and build more housing,” Bass said. “Our partnership with the state has delivered progress for our city, including significant homelessness funding and Homekey awards to build much-needed housing in Los Angeles, recover from crises like the 10 freeway shutdown and Tropical Storm Hilary, and make Los Angeles a safer and more livable city for all. Thank you to our Los Angeles City Council delegation for joining me at our State Capitol to continue to deliver for the people of this city.”
During the visit, Bass’ office highlighted the city’s measures to combat homelessness, citing the 3,365 emergency housing vouchers used to bring unhoused Angelenos into permanent housing and expanding the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) with increased staff. Bass also announced that the city received its seventh Homekey Round 3 grant with nearly $7.2 million in new funding for interim housing, bringing a total of 367 new units funded for a total of $105.8 million.
“Our priority always has to be to save lives, and when we work together across all levels of government, we can make real progress. With more than 40,000 unhoused Angelenos on our streets, it was unacceptable that we had voucher holders unable to come inside,” Bass said.
In January 2023, the city worked with HACLA to increase its capacity. Now the city is at “full voucher utilization,” Bass continued. “We cannot standby and allow business as usual to kill unhoused Angelenos.”
In order to keep Angelenos safe and off the streets, state funding is vital, explained Bass. Bob Blumenfield, chair of the city council’s Budget, Finance and Innovation Committee, agreed.
“It’s imperative that we take advantage of every state and federal resource on the table and leave no rock unturned,” he said. “We must continue the ‘yes and’ approach as well as ensure that our departments can effectively spend the grant money we receive.”
With the new grant, the city, in partnership with Hope the Mission, will repurpose an existing motel into a 22-unit interim housing community for youth experiencing or at risk of homelessness. The state also announced funding to provide an additional 337 housing units for LA County outside the city limits.
Other trip focuses included pushing for housing funding and expedited reimbursements for past emergencies like the recent storms and COVID-19.
On the final day, the delegation announced that the LA region would receive more than $300 million in emergency reimbursements, $60 million of which will go toward COVID-19 expenses for the city of Los Angeles.
“State, local, and federal partners are united in helping our communities recover from disasters and emergencies,” Newsom said. “California is proud to support Mayor Bass and the city’s efforts to help Angelenos rebuild from damaging storms, access housing and recover from the pandemic.”
