Mayor Bass, LA council members talk homelessness and more with Gov. Newsom, other state leaders

City leaders are continuing to push legislators for more resources to combat homelessness, improve public safety and recover from recent storms and the COVID-19 pandemic.

By JOSE HERRERA

A delegation of Los Angeles city officials led by Mayor Karen Bass will conclude two days of meetings at the statehouse in Sacramento Tuesday, continuing to push legislators for more resources to combat homelessness, improve public safety and recover from recent storms and the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Bass’ office, Tuesday’s agenda includes a meeting with Gov. Gavin Newsom and several of his cabinet secretaries.

The delegation — which includes Bass, City Council President Paul Krekorian and council members Bob Blumenfield, Hugo Soto-Martinez, Monica Rodriguez and Eunisses Hernandez — left for the state capital Sunday and plans to return Tuesday following its various meetings.

On Monday, Bass’ office used the visit to highlight the fact that 3,365 housing vouchers the city had already received have now been fully used, bringing homeless Angelenos inside.

Additionally, Bass noted that the city secured a $7.2 million Homekey Round 3 grant last week — the seventh such award the city has secured from the state.

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Other goals of the trip include obtaining funding for more housing and advocating for expedited reimbursements for past emergencies such as the coronavirus pandemic and recent storms.

Krekorian, a former Assembly member, told City News Service it’s been years since his last meetings at the capital.

“I don’t remember a time when we’ve had a city delegation come up here with a mayor and members of the City Council,” he said Monday.

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He said it’s important — and impactful — for city leaders to visit with state leaders.

“When we’re not here, if we’re not being heard then we will be overlooked when it comes to budget decisions and policies,” he said.

Rodriguez said the trip is an opportunity to connect with many legislators and elevate issues that are “most pressing to the people of Los Angeles, particularly post-COVID.”

She agreed with Krekorian in that it’s important for city leaders to engage with state leaders and remind them that “we don’t always have one-size-fits-all solutions for challenges that face Californians.”

Bass touted the fact that several legislative leaders from Northern California were in attendance, as well as those from Southern California — giving them more opportunities to ask for resources.

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“But both budget chairs and the president of the state Senate and speaker are from Southern California,” Bass noted. “So, that means that we have to definitely make our case very strongly, specially in a difficult budget time.”

City officials lamented that the state is looking at a budget deficit in the upcoming fiscal year.

Los Angeles is also looking at a possible $150 million deficit that could balloon to $400 million as a result of spending and new labor contracts with several unions representing city employees.

In regard to the funding for interim housing, Bass emphasized that “our priority always has to be to save lives — and when we work together, across all levels of government, we can make real progress.”

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“With more than 40,000 unhoused Angelenos on our streets, it was unacceptable that we had voucher holders unable to come inside,” she said.

In January 2023, Bass said the city worked with the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) to increase its capacity, and now the city is at “full voucher utilization.”

“We cannot stand by and allow business as usual to kill unhoused Angelenos,” Bass said in a statement.

Krekorian, meanwhile, said in a statement that the trip is about securing funding to expand on proven programs for the unhoused and build more affordable housing for working Angelenos.

Bass said state funds “are absolutely vital to our efforts to bring Angelenos inside. I want to again thank the Newsom administration for their continued partnership to address the homelessness crisis. We will continue to call on our federal and state partners to increase our voucher allocation and other resources to bring more people inside.”

Blumenfield noted that the city must take advantage of “every state and federal resource on the table, and leave no rock unturned.”