SACRAMENTO, CA – The Los Angeles County Legislative Delegation (LACD) today announced that it successfully protected millions of dollars in funding to protect vulnerable residents across Los Angeles County as part of the recently approved 2024-25 State Budget Act.
“As the voice of nearly 10 million California residents living in Los Angeles County, I am proud of the thoughtful, strategic and compassionate work of the LA County Legislative Delegation in supporting an on-time, balanced budget that protected essential programs that LA County residents rely upon,” said Assemblymember Tina McKinnor, Chair of the LA County Legislative Delegation. “We worked to address the state’s housing and homelessness crisis, proposed cuts to CalWORKS and protected access to criminal justice programs with a bi-partisan, unified voice. Moving forward, I hope to continue this important bi-partisan work necessary to make sure all people living in LA County can do so with dignity and respect.”
Earlier this year, the LACD’s 39 members met with LA County Supervisors to develop a unified plan to protect LA County’s 10 million residents from potentially devastating cuts related to the state’s $45 billion deficit.
Among the Delegation’s successful actions:
Rejecting Cuts to CalWORKS Single Allocation- The final budget agreement rejected the Governor’s proposed reversions and elimination of $54.6 million in federal and State funding for CalWORKs Single Allocation (CWSA). This reversion and elimination would have impacted the County’s ability to provide employment for families in crisis who require supportive services to address substance abuse or mental health disorders; including extensive trauma-informed interactions and supports, which is the State’s vision for CalWORKs 2.0.
Rejecting Cuts to Housing Navigation and Maintenance Program- The final budget agreement rejected the Governor’s proposed reduction of $13.7 million in FY 2024–25 and ongoing for the Housing Navigation and Maintenance Program (HNMP), which would eliminate the program and result in a loss of approximately $4.5million in annual funding for the County. Eliminating HNMP would have negatively impacted the County’s ability to provide housing navigation services to the most vulnerable young adults, and its ability to keep them from falling into homelessness.
Rejecting Cuts to Public Defender Pilot Program- The final budget agreement rejected the Governor’s proposed elimination of the third year of funding ($40 million) for the Public Defender Pilot Program, which would have resulted in a $9.8 million reduction in funding for Los Angeles County. According to the Office of the State Public Defender, the program has saved the State as much as $325 million by reducing the State prison populations. The proposed elimination would have also disrupted progress for over 3,000 cases in Los Angeles County currently eligible for resentencing.
For a summary of the 2024-25 State Budget Act, please visit: https://abgt.assembly.ca.gov/system/files/2024-06/floor-report-of-the-2024-25-budget-june-22-2024-version.pdf