Help Pledged on Affordable Housing Fund

A group of state lawmakers pledged Tuesday to help the city of Los Angeles create a $100-million trust fund for affordable housing, saying they will fight to stop the state from cutting funds to local governments.

“For our part, we will make every effort to protect cities, particularly Los Angeles, from budget cuts and try to focus them on statewide programs,” Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg (D-Los Angeles) told the Los Angeles City Council.

The appearance by members of the state Legislature at the council meeting comes at a key moment in the years-long effort to create a $100-million housing trust fund.

While the council and Mayor James K. Hahn have expressed support for the idea, they have yet to identify specific sources of funding. The city faces a projected $156-million budget shortfall, making set-asides for housing more difficult.

The state also faces a fiscal crisis, with a projected $12-billion budget deficit. But in speeches that praised the city’s efforts, four state lawmakers promised that they will try to prevent the state from balancing its budget by taking money away from cities and counties.

“When we went through the last crisis 10 years ago, the state balanced its budget on the backs of cities, by shifting the property tax from cities and counties to the state budget,” said Assemblyman Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach).

Many lawmakers are sensitive to the needs of cities since they recently served in local governments, said Lowenthal, a six-year member of the Long Beach City Council.

State Sen. Richard Alarcon (D-San Fernando Valley) and Goldberg are former members of the Los Angeles City Council. Paul Koretz (D-West Hollywood) served on the West Hollywood City Council.

Alarcon called for long-term solutions to the housing shortage, such as the creation of a statewide housing trust fund. The lawmakers also pledged to place a $2-billion bond on the 2002 ballot that will provide more funds for housing.