Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti speaks about the importance of infrastructure during a news conference with fellow mayors and members of Congress outside the U.S. Capitol. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 12:25 PM PT – Thursday, June 3, 2021
Mayor Eric Garcetti signed the largest Los Angeles budget to date as levels of government spending increase due to inflation, growing population and the expansion of programs.
The mayor was joined by other council members as he signed the 2021 through 2022 fiscal year spending plan at the Los Angeles City Hall on Wednesday afternoon. City council unanimously approved the $11.2 billion budget last month which is set to go into effect July 1.
The budget allocates nearly $1 billion to combat the city’s severe homeless crisis by providing housing and services to those without homes. When in office, President Trump criticized how Los Angeles was handling its homeless crisis and now they seem to be throwing even more money at the problem.
“In the Democratic-run cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco, did you see what is happening to those cities? Can you even believe it?” the President questioned. “What’s going on there? People are getting sick by just walking down the street.”
Los Angeles: this is your justice budget.
An investment in core services, infrastructure and clean streets, arts, culture and our economic recovery.
A vision to bend the arc of our city’s future in the direction of greater equity. pic.twitter.com/RPuPgrMc5Q
— MayorOfLA (@MayorOfLA) June 2, 2021
The plan also includes subsidiary funding for tourism, restaurants and the Gang Reduction and Youth Development Program.
“To look at a way to break the back of poverty here, to invest in young people,” Garcetti expressed. “I think it has been greatly underreported the environmental revolution Los Angeles has led.”
In addition, the mayor’s spending plan includes more than $1.7 billion for the Los Angeles Police Department which was a decision many progressives opposed. This is a three percent increase from when the city council cut $150 million from the police department last year.
“I do believe these are seeds that we are planting in the city that are pretty profound of understanding public city re-imagination that doesn’t have to come at the expense of something,” the mayor explained. “It can boldly move certain responsibilities we have thrown onto our police shoulders, to others who are more effective.”
The council believes the budget provides Los Angeles a pathway out of the financial uncertainties inflicted by the pandemic and grants opportunities to struggling families.
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