D.C. - We're Not Going With Hat in Hand

by Gary Toebben

Today, 160 business and civic leaders are in Washington, D.C. for the region’s annual ACCESS Washington, D.C. trip. The delegation will meet with dozens of members of Congress and the Administration about issues that are important to our economy and our quality of life.  Here is our advocacy agenda.

Many communities and states travel to D.C., but our ACCESS D.C. trip is unique in three ways. The first is the size of our delegation. The second is the breadth of issues we cover. The third, and most important, is the money we bring to the table.  Some communities take the approach that “with our ideas and your money, we can do great things.”  In Los Angeles County, we start by talking about the money we are already investing locally, and then we focus on Federal financial and public policy partnerships that would enhance our efforts to grow the economy and benefit our citizens.

This week in D.C., we will talk about the $120 billion dollars over the next 40 years that L.A. County voters have committed for transportation improvements. We will discuss the $5.4 billion annually that the State of California has committed to transportation improvements. We will talk about the $14 billion that the public and private sector are investing at LAX and the $10 billion that is being invested by the ports of Long Beach and L.A.

We will talk about the $3.55 billion that County voters committed to services for the homeless and the $1.2 billion that City of L.A. voters approved for 10,000 units to house the homeless. We will talk about the $3.3 billion that voters approved for our local community colleges and the $18 billion in economic impact that the 2028 Olympics will generate for the U.S. economy.

L.A. County should be the poster child for members of Congress and the Administration who believe that the federal government should be a partner, but not the primary investor in state and local public services and infrastructure improvements. We have a great story to tell and we are telling it this week. No one brings more to the table than L.A. County and the City of L.A. when we come to Washington, D.C.

And that's The Business Perspective.