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Politics Oct 13, 2023
U.S. Capitol building. | Photo by Christopher Ryan on Unsplash
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Los Angeles City leaders will travel next week to Washington D.C. and meet with White House officials to advocate for additional resources to meet the city’s most pressing needs, Mayor Karen Bass’ office announced Friday.
Bass along with Council President Paul Krekorian and council members Bob Blumenfield, Eunisses Hernandez, Heather Hutt, Traci Park and Hugo Soto-Martinez will meet with members of California’s congressional delegation and the Biden administration. They will leave Sunday for their five-day trip, which will focus on bringing more unhoused Angelenos inside, improving public safety, adding resources for veterans, enhancing transportation and increasing access to federal funding, among other things.
“We are proving in just a few short months that by locking arms, we get things done,” Bass said in a statement. “The partnership with the federal government thus far has delivered progress for our city in our efforts to do everything from bringing unhoused Angelenos inside to improving our transportation system.”
Bass added, “This delegation continues that momentum. I thank my partners on the City Council for joining me on this trip to amplify the voice of Angelenos on the national scale. Together, we will continue to deliver change for Los Angeles.”
As a result of the trip, City Council will cancel their meetings for Tuesday and Wednesday next week. The Council will resume meeting as schedule on Friday, according to Krekorian’s office.
City leaders are expected to meet with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge to discuss requirements for rental assistance such as expanding veteran eligibility for housing vouchers and providing more funding to develop affordable housing units.
The group will also meet with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to request expedited Federal Emergency Management Assistance reimbursements for COVID-related expenses and assistance with migrant buses from Texas.
Other meetings with White House officials will involve Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough; Department of Labor Acting Secretary Julie Su; Tom Perez and Neera Tanden, the White House director of intergovernmental affairs and director of domestic policy council, respectively; Shalanda Young, director of the Office of Management and Budget; Gregory Jackson and Robert Wilcox, special assistants to the president and deputy directors for the Office of Gun Violence Prevention; Homeland Security Advisor Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall; and Department of Transportation Assistant Secretary Christopher Coes.
Earlier this year, members of Congress secured more than $35 million in the proposed fiscal year 2024 appropriation bills for Los Angeles at the request of Bass and the Council.
The delegation is scheduled to meet with various members of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate to discuss ways to build on that momentum, as well.
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