Mayor Karen Bass and a delegation of six City Council members began several days of meetings in Washington D.C. Monday to advocate for additional resources for the city.
The contingent — including Council President Paul Krekorian and council members Bob Blumenfield, Eunisses Hernandez, Heather Hutt, Traci Park and Hugo Soto-Martinez — will be meeting with White House officials and members of California’s congressional delegation before returning to L.A. on Thursday.
Focal points of the meetings, Bass said, will be on bringing more unhoused Angelenos inside, improving public safety, adding resources for veterans, enhancing transportation and increasing access to federal funding.
“We are proving in just a few short months that by locking arms, we get things done,” Bass said in a statement last week, ahead of the L.A. contingent’s departure for D.C. on Sunday.
“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, the City Council has canceled its regularly scheduled meetings for Tuesday and Wednesday. The Council will resume meetings on Friday, according to Krekorian’s office.
“This is from morning until night, and because it’s precious time — I mean, how often do you get to come here like this? Bring in a delegation of members from the City Council? We’re in the White House all day,” Bass told KNX News.
Monday, the group was to 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.
Bass told KNX prior to the meeting with Mayorkas that Homeland Security, with the responsibility for allocating FEMA grants, owes “Los Angeles quite a bit of money.”
“We are going back to appeal for that money,” Bass said. “The other thing is that we are having increasingly (large) numbers of bus loads of migrants coming into town. There is federal money that can assist with that. Right now, Los Angeles does not get that money.”
The city leaders are also 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.
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 Adviser Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall; and Department of Transportation Assistant Secretary Christopher Coes.
Park told KNX that she expects to speak with McDonough. She said she intends to address new housing on the West Los Angeles V.A. Medical Center in her 11th District, which includes neighborhoods in West L.A.
V.A. benefits play a role in preventing homeless veterans from qualifying for housing. Park added, “And that’s a kind of an adjustment that could have a significant impact on thousands of people who need help.”
Earlier this year, 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.