Bass: Mayors to visit Capitol Hill to address homelessness, housing

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass Wednesday moderated a homeless forum and raised awareness for national efforts to count the unhoused population as part of her visit to Washington, D.C. for the three-day U.S. Conference of Mayors Winter Meeting.

Bass also announced Wednesday that a coalition of mayors will visit Capitol Hill and the White House from April 30 to May 2. The trip will focus on advocating on behalf of cities, and seeking legislative changes that are intended to address challenges communities face around homelessness, housing and other issues.

“We’re going to have a task force convening … so that we can go up to the hill and meet with the administration because we need to push for some very specific changes,” Bass said during the conference. “Some changes can be done administratively. Some changes need to be legislative.”

One issue, she noted, that needs to be examined is how veterans receive assistance. Many veterans often have to choose between veteran benefits and housing, according to Bass.

Bass was appointed as chair of the conference’s Task Force on Homelessness last year by conference President Hillary Schieve, the mayor of Reno, Nevada. Bass convened the task force in the afternoon to discuss a path forward on national policy to address the housing and homelessness crisis.

The group consists of mayors and national leaders, as well as experts on the issue, including Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, Va Lecia Adams Kellum, the CEO of the L.A. Homeless Services, and Anthony Love, director of community engagement for the Veterans Health Administration Homeless Program.

“We just finished our second task force meeting, where we are focusing on organizing the delegation to both the houses of Congress and the White House to advocate for specific changes in policy that we need to have, so that we can address the hundreds of thousands of Americans who are sleeping on our streets every night,” Bass said in a video posted on social media.

Jeff Oliver, the executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, commended the mayors for their leadership on the issue. He noted that their work demonstrates that homelessness is not only invasive, an issue for every community across the country, and a nonpartisan issue that requires people of “all political stripes across the spectrum” to come together.

He added that there’s a lot of attention over the next couple of weeks around point-in-time counts, noting those counts are important in understanding the scope of homelessness on any given night in the country.

Mayor Bass moderated a forum Wednesday afternoon titled “Homelessness: Next Steps,” which builds on a meeting in Los Angeles in November, where mayors suggested several policy initiatives aimed at reducing homelessness.

Among several recommendations from mayors were calls for the federal government to increase housing vouchers, bolster federal protections from eviction and provide more emergency rental assistance.

Bass spoke during the opening lunch at the Capitol Hilton in a discussion exploring effective models of reducing homelessness.

Later Wednesday, Bass will receive the Antonio Villaraigosa Leadership Award at the Latino Leaders Network 39th Tribute to Mayors Dinner at the Mayflower Hotel.

Villaraigosa, Sen. Alex Padilla, D-California, Tom Perez, the director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, and Rep. Nanette Diaz Barragán, D-San Pedro, are set to speak at the dinner.

The award was first presented in 2012 as Villaraigosa concluded his term as president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. The award named in his honor to recognize “outstanding mayors who are dedicated to bringing their diverse communities together — to include us,” according to the network, which bills itself as “a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to `Bringing Leaders Together’ to share our personal stories, grow relationships and build unity.”

Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen, acting Labor Secretary Julie Su, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra spoke at the mayors meeting Wednesday.

Sens. John Hickenlooper, D-Colorado, and Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina, discussed the Retirement Savings For Americans Act.

Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson is set to moderate a discussion Thursday titled, “Bridging the Digital Divide in Our Cities With BEAD,” referring to the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program, which provides federal funding to expand high-speed internet access.

Later Thursday, Richardson is set to speak during a session on affordable housing and celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Community Development Block Grant.

Mayors from 15 other cities in Los Angeles County have also registered for the meeting in addition to Bass and Richardson, along with three from Orange County, according to organizers.

The other Los Angeles County mayors who have registered are Ross Maza (Alhambra); Emmanuel Estrada (Baldwin Park); Jorgel Chavez (Bell Gardens); Dr. Julian Gold (Beverly Hills); Yasmine-Imani McMorrin (Culver City); Justin Massey (Hermosa Beach); Gabriel Quinones (La Puente); Ariel Pe (Lakewood); Jose Luis Solache (Lynwood); Joe Franklin (Manhattan Beach); Eddie De La Riva (Maywood); Scarlet Peralta (Montebello); Isabel Aguayo (Paramount); Phil Brock (Santa Monica); and George Chen (Torrance).

The Orange County mayors who have registered are Ashleigh Aitken (Anaheim); Susan Sonne (Buena Park) and Farrah Khan (Irvine).

The meeting will conclude with the mayors meeting in the White House and remarks by President Joe Biden on Friday.

While in Washington, Bass is slated to meet with White House officials and members of Congress to continue to advocate for resources for the city.

Bass’ office said she would meet with Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge to discuss pathways forward to bring Angelenos inside, and Su, who helped resolve labor negotiations at the Port of Los Angeles last year, to discuss ways to continue to improve working conditions for Los Angeles residents.

Additionally, Bass is preparing to advance the city’s goal of reaching 100% clean energy by 2035, as well as discuss preparations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup with other host city mayors.

“Mayors are on the front lines of the homelessness crisis in our cities each and every day, and in order to create tangible solutions, we must come together around common issues that our cities face and continue to make national change,” Bass said in a statement issued Tuesday afternoon.

“During this trip, we will continue to build momentum around a national unified strategy to address homelessness and advance key priorities for Angelenos such as safety, infrastructure quality, climate protection and preparedness for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.”

This is the second consecutive week that Bass has traveled out of the state. She went to Dallas to attend the funeral of former Rep. Eddie Bernie Johnson last Tuesday. Johnson served in the House for 30 years, including nearly 12 years with Bass, was the first nurse to serve in Congress, and first woman and African American to chair the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology.

Bass is expected to return to Los Angeles on Friday.

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