What Happened?
On Friday, the Budget Committee made their final changes to this year’s proposed budget before sending it to the full City Council for a vote. Here are some of the most important changes:
✅ Unarmed Crisis Response – expanding to three new service areas, improving emergency response options while saving money
✅ Nearly $4 million allocated to sanitation crews, graffiti removal, and LA’s BEST afterschool program.
✅ Barnsdall Art Park & Hollyhock House – funding and staff positions restored to preserve
UNESCO World Heritage Site Status.
✅ Over 80 streetlight maintenance roles restored
✅ RepresentLA Legal Fund – $1 million for critical immigrant legal defense against the Trump administration.
✅ Climate Emergency Mobilization Office – restored and made permanent within Emergency Management Department.
✅ LGBTQIA+ Liaison restored; the only full-time role dedicated to serving and organizing the LGBTQIA+ community
✅ No animal shelter closures – and expanded value of spay/neuter vouchers
Why it Matters
We’re looking at a MUCH better budget outlook compared to just a few weeks ago. By prioritizing critical city services and identifying creative funding sources, the Budget Committee helped:
- Save nearly 1,000 city jobs slated for layoffs.
- Prevent streetlight cuts that would’ve pushed broken repair times from an already-unacceptable 9 months to 2–3 years
- Avoid devastating rollbacks of core services.
How We Got Here
It’s worth taking a moment to recognize just how much collective power working-class Angelenos have built in just the past few years.
Not long ago, the City budget process was a black box. Decisions were made by lobbyists and well-connected interested groups, with little to no input from the people most impacted. But this year looked different.
Faced with a massive budget deficit—driven by an enormous LAPD pay raise, ballooning liability costs, and economic headwinds—it was the community that stepped up to protect the services we rely on most. Working people, tenant organizers, labor unions, and ordinary Angelenos showed up, spoke out, and demanded a budget that reflects the collective values of our community.
We still have a long way to go to build a city that truly prioritizes working people over corporate interests. But this year, we took a major step forward. HUGE thank you to the entire Budget Committee – especially Chairwoman Katy Yaroslavsky – for leading a transparent, community-driven process under incredibly challenging circumstances.
What’s Next?
City Council will take public comment on the budget in-person this Wednesday (tomorrow!) at 10am at City Hall. High turnout is expected so we recommend arriving early. You can also click here to give public comment online.
Then on Thursday, City Council will vote on the budget, which will head to Mayor Bass’ desk once approved to be signed into law.