Los Angeles City Council Budget Meeting – May 21, 2026
Los Angeles City Council Budget Meeting – May 21, 2026
The Los Angeles City Council convened on Thursday, May 21, 2026, to consider and adopt the proposed 2026-27 city budget. The meeting followed a recess from the previous day and included a page-by-page review of the Budget and Finance Committee report, consideration of 28 budget motions, and final adoption of the budget as amended. The council also heard closing remarks from several members highlighting fiscal discipline, public safety investments, and community priorities.
Consent Calendar
- Items 1 through 5 were noticed for public hearing. Public comment was satisfied for items 1 and 4 on Wednesday, May 20, 2026. Items 2 and 3 were continued to June 17, 2026. Item 4 was adopted as amended. Item 5 was continued to June 23, 2026.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No public testimony was taken during this meeting; public comment had been satisfied on the prior day for certain items.
Discussion Items
- Budget Committee Report (Recommendations 1–159): The council proceeded page by page through the Budget and Finance Committee report, voting on recommendations in blocks. Several items were called “special” for amendments or questions:
- Recommendation 43 (Represent LA funding): Councilmember Soto Martinez proposed an amendment to increase funding by $2.5 million for immigrant communities facing raids and detentions. Councilmember Rodriguez added an amendment to designate up to $250,000 of Represent LA funding to assist deported veterans. Both amendments were adopted (14-0).
- Recommendation 76 (deferred maintenance): Councilmember Padilla moved to designate $733,000 for sidewalk and street improvements in her district. The motion was referred to the Budget and Finance Committee due to fiscal impact.
- Recommendation 86: Councilmember Herado called special but resolved questions; adopted.
- Recommendation 92: Councilmember Herado called special but resolved; adopted.
- Recommendation 105 (fire department EV response): Councilmember Rodriguez added a direction in Exhibit H to make positions contingent on voter approval of a fire department funding measure. Adopted (14-0).
- Recommendation 125: Councilmember Padilla amended to add CLA to work with CAO on a report; adopted (14-0).
- Recommendation 139 (data centers): Councilmember Rodriguez moved to instruct DWP to contribute $500,000 for environmental review of a data center ordinance; adopted (14-0).
- Exhibit H (Fire Department Bond Measure): The council approved Exhibit H instructions, including adding 12 firefighters at Fire Station 100 (Motion 4) and a first response vehicle at Fire Station 60 (Motion 18).
- Motions (1–28): The council considered 28 budget motions. Key actions:
- Motion 3 (feasibility of street services investigators responding to non-emergency calls): Adopted (14-0).
- Motion 4 (add 12 firefighters at Fire Station 100): Adopted (14-0).
- Motion 5 (report on active transportation program staffing): Adopted (14-0).
- Motion 13 (hybrid voting for neighborhood council elections): Adopted (14-0).
- Motion 20 (report on capital projects swept due to wildfire emergency): Adopted (14-0).
- Motion 23 (Inside Safe oversight and accountability): Adopted (14-0).
- Motion 25 (LAPD overtime transparency): Amended to remove the transfer of $50 million to unappropriated balance; instead requires quarterly reports. Referred to Public Safety, Personnel, and Budget and Finance committees.
- Motion 26 (performance measurement reports): Adopted (14-0).
- Motion 27 (deported veterans funding): Adopted (14-0).
- Motion 28 (therapeutic unarmed response for neighborhoods – Project TURN): Referred to Public Safety and Budget and Finance committees.
- Motion A (prepare budget resolution): Adopted (14-0).
- Motion B (overall budget adoption): Adopted (13-0-1, with Councilmember Price recusing).
Key Outcomes
- The council adopted the 2026-27 city budget as amended by the Budget and Finance Committee report and the approved motions. The final vote was 13 ayes, 0 noes, 1 recusal (Councilmember Price).
- The budget maintains investments in homelessness services, public safety, street and sidewalk repairs, and prepares for the 2028 Olympics. It strengthens reserves and compliance with fiscal policies amid uncertainty over potential gross receipts tax repeal and other revenue threats.
- Several motions were referred to committees for further study, including those with fiscal impacts (e.g., Motion 6 for lighthouse bridge design, Motion 7 for Coastal Care Plus team, Motion 8 for Runyon Canyon security, Motion 9 for North Atwater East Bank Riverway, Motion 10 for Department of Disability positions, Motion 11 for garment industry position, Motion 14 for active transportation program positions, Motion 15 for public bank study, Motion 16 for North Hollywood Park Master Plan, Motion 17 for film LA audit, Motion 19 for citywide alley paving).
- The council directed the City Attorney and CLA to prepare the budget resolution for final adoption the following week, after which it will be submitted to the mayor for approval.
Meeting Transcript
To the people of America, there's nothing to fear but fear itself, and this galvanized the people and brought the country up. And then when the bombing of Peroga Harbor happened, everybody went crazy. And we have to look like the people that bomb Pearl Harper. And he saw us as the enemy. And as great a man as Roosevelt was, Roosevelt was a human being. He got swept up in the hysteria. There are people on the West Coast that look exactly like the people that bomb our armor. Who knows what could be a spy. They might be planning to bomb San Pedro. After a year of that unjust imprisonment, the government realizes there's a wartime manpower shortage. And here are all these young people, men and women that they've categorized just arbitrarily as enemy aliens. We're Americans. Born, raised, and imprisoned by America, born here. They just made up this enemy alien thing. But now they need us. So they come down with a loyalty questionnaire. What's the matter with this government? They should have asked that before they imprisoned us, before they took our homes, destroyed my father's business. People hearing this story, I keep telling people the ideals of democracy are noble, a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. That's us, the people. And my father said, we have to be involved, all of us. At that time, the civil rights movement was going on. He said what the black people are doing is that they are out speaking up for themselves. They have a history. That's a part of American history. And you said you when you get the vote, you are the part of the people that speak for this country. I am so grateful to be sitting here with Hina Knowles to have a chance to hear a little bit more about your work and the creation of the Waco Theater Center. The creation of the Waco Theater Center has been a dream of mine since I was a teenager because I had a mentor actually gave me exposure to the arts. And it made me feel seen and heard. So I know the effect of the arts on the community and especially on kids who don't have great opportunities. And that is what Waco is all about. We started this charity very small in a little tiny 100 seat theater. So we spent all our money on busting them to North Hollywood. And so this is a dream come true because we're in that community. We can do community programs. How cool is that? I came out here to go to one of the shops on the main street here, which I thought was amazing because it was all these black-owned artistic businesses. So that was exciting within itself. And then my friend Mark Bradford brought me here. And of course, it was before all the renovations, and I was like, oh my God, this is just sitting here, are you kidding me? It looked completely different. And so when I heard that it was being restored, it was music to my ears. And when there was an opportunity for us to help manage this place, it was like a dream come true. And for it to be a place where this community can easily access. And so that's what we're hoping for this place. We're praying that it is a cultural community center, which it was meant to be in the first place. The history, the legacy that is in this building, if the walls could talk. We are so lucky here in the city of Los Angeles to be able to celebrate and to be able to do that through our theaters, through our art center, through our grantee program, through public art. It's all about helping people feel comfortable and confident with where they are and who they are. I really have to commend the city of Los Angeles.
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