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LA Mayor Karen Bass 'not available' for Congressional hearing on homelessness funding fraud
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass speaks at a press conference before LAHSA's annual homeless count at El Rio Community School on Feb. 18, 2025.
(
Carlin Stiehl
/
LAist
)
Topline:
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass says she is not available to testify before Congress next Tuesday, but that her office looks forward to working with the House of Representatives subcommittee that made the request.
Why it matters: Bass' attorney sent a letter responding to the subcommittee Friday afternoon, writing that "unfortunately" the mayor is not available on Sept. 15. Bass’ team has reached out to the subcommittee to discuss the scheduling issue, and the mayor “looks forward to working” with them, according to the letter.
Records request: The subcommittee also requested a trove of documents, including specific communications between the Mayor’s Office, the L.A. City Council, the L.A. Homeless Services Authority and the L.A. County Board of Supervisors dating back to 2020. In the letter, Bass’ office said “we will do our best to provide records as soon as possible.”
Bass’ response: The letter pushed back against the subcommittee’s statement that homelessness has grown worse under her watch. It points to data from the region’s annual point-in-time counts, which she said showed “the first decrease in many years” during her tenure.
But this year’s count bucked the trend, showing a nearly 8% rise in the population of people living outdoors in the city of L.A.
[Read the mayor's full letter here]
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The backstory: The House of Representatives Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency sent a letter to Bass last week about its concerns with the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, specifically “reports of blatant corruption” in LAHSA’s contracting process and "potential misallocation" of federal dollars.
What's next: The mayor’s letter didn’t completely close the door on her testifying. It’s unclear if the "Fixing Fraud and Failure in Federally Funded Homelessness Services” hearing will be rescheduled.
Go deeper: LA Mayor Karen Bass asked to testify to Congress for fraud hearing on federal homelessness dollars
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