LA City Council approves $13.9 billion budget that reduces layoffs to 600

CBS News

23-05-2025

The Los Angeles City Council approved a $13.9 billion budget, which has revisions that spared 1,000 jobs while also closing the city's nearly $1 billion deficit.
Tensions at City Hall boiled over in the heated debate leading up to the 12-3 vote as council members expressed their anger and frustration over the situation. Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson described the spending plan as "the least bad we could do," while Councilwoman Traci Park called it "a bottomless pit and taxpayer boondoggle that doubles down on failure."
"The idea of cutting a billion dollars, there's just not a good way to do that," Harris-Dawson said. "You can try to be responsible. You can try to be forward-looking. You can try to do harm reduction. But, there isn't a good way to do that."
Mayor Karen Bass' original proposed budget included 1,647 layoffs and the elimination of 1,074 vacant positions. However, the revised plan that the council approved reduced the number of layoffs to roughly 600, in part by slowing down police hiring. The Los Angeles Police and Fire Departments will not receive increases in their budgets either.
Council members who voted against the budget were unsatisfied with the changes, especially given that the city will soon host the World Cup and the Olympics.
"All of our residents and taxpayers want is a fully-funded police and fire department," Park said. "They want the sidewalks fixed. They want the streetlights to work and they want their kids to be able to play at the local park without having to step over drug and trash camps."
Council members who voted in favor of the budget defended their decision.
"We took a horrible budget proposal and made it into one that's very bad," Councilman Bob Blumenfield said. "But that's an accomplishment. But it is better, and we did save jobs, but the fundamentals are still very bad."