LOS ANGELES (April 18, 2023) - Los Angeles City Council President Paul Krekorian has issued the following statement concerning the Mayor’s proposed budget for 2023-24.
“This is a pivotal moment in our City’s history – a time of great challenge, great change, and great opportunity. Mayor Karen Bass is meeting that challenge, recognizing that change, and seizing that opportunity with a budget proposal that reflects priorities we share: housing and homelessness, mental health and public safety.
“The Mayor’s proposal calls for the acquisition and development of the affordable and supportive housing we need. The proposed budget makes an unprecedented commitment to treating the epidemic of untreated mental illness and addiction that causes so much suffering, and it identifies available funding for these purposes. It also recognizes our needs for more personnel – police, firefighters, emergency personnel, unarmed mental health responders and civilian staff – to respond to our public safety needs. More paramedics and more 911 operators means shorter response times to emergency calls, and a safer, healthier city. The Mayor has also committed to sustaining and growing the reserve we have built over the last decade.
“It is now the duty of the City Council to review the Mayor’s proposal and craft a final budget that honors the City’s priorities, respects our fiscal realities, and fully reflects the needs of all our constituents.
“The commitment to collaboration and teamwork that marked her leadership in the State Assembly and in the United States Congress has given the Mayor a unique advantage in securing State and Federal support for many of these initiatives. We are fortunate to have her leadership at this historic moment. As we link arms to pursue our shared vision, it is indeed a new day in Los Angeles.”
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