Move LA and our partners statewide have been meeting with legislators since January to discuss the urgent need to fund frequent and reliable transit service. We’ve met with key leaders in the Governor’s office, the State Senate, Assembly budget staff and other legislators, and transit riders, bus and rail operators, and transit advocates have all made the case for discounted fares and funding for the expansion of active transportation and for public transit infrastructure, and fair wages for operators. And our efforts have paid off! 

When Ron Miller retired from his very important and powerful role as Executive Secretary of the Los Angeles/Orange Counties Building and Construction Trades Council last year after nearly a decade, he left quite a legacy—one that included billions of dollars worth of Project Labor Agreements on very high-profile public and private projects.

Joan Ling and Denny Zane, Move LA's founder and executive director, have worked together to build affordable housing ever since he was mayor of Santa Monica in the late 1980s and she was executive director of the Community Corporation of Santa Monica, a nonprofit affordable housing developer. Together they have, according to Denny's estimation, helped develop more than 1,400 affordable housing units—and they’re not done yet!

Luis Cruz is an Urban Planning Graduate Student at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs studying Regional Development and Housing. He has a background in working as an educator in Los Angeles. He has recently ventured into the planning field, particularly interested in advancing economic, housing, and mixed-use development projects to support and promote upward social mobility for low-income families in Los Angeles. Luis has been interning with Move LA for the past 6 months working on an extended white paper for this post, available upon request. 

Addressing Climate Change Equitable Means “High-Road” Jobs in Renewable Energy

As climate change continues to pose a threat to people worldwide, governments everywhere have the responsibility to act before it is too late. In the United States, the federal government has begun exploring ways to encourage collaboration to help address the crisis. Through federal investment funding in public renewable energy projects, the United States has set a standard for other nations to follow. In Los Angeles, this type of investment has presented the region with a prime opportunity to participate in developing innovative renewable energy infrastructure projects, specifically the production of electrolyzed hydrogen.

There was a sea change in land use and transportation planning in 2007 when SB 375, a bill calling for regional action on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, was signed into law and a statewide coalition of nonprofits began organizing around the bill. The vision of this impressive gathering of otherwise disparate organizations—which included Move LA—was to champion sustainability in order to achieve SB 375’s ambitious GHG reduction strategies.

Please join us to celebrate and share an informal dinner in honor of some of the people we really like working with—in part because they do big stuff, and because they're willing to work together with others until they win. Join us at the Boomtown Brewery in DTLA's Arts District at 700 Jackson St.! Register below!

We have exciting news—Asm. Chris Holden of Pasadena, Chair of the Appropriations Committee and long-time advocate for student transit passes, has introduced AB 1919—the California Youth Transit Pass Program!

This program would provide fare-free transit passes for everyone 25 years old and under who is living in California, regardless of immigration status. The goal is to remove socioeconomic barriers to reliable transportation and make it easier for students to get to school and work and other activities, meantime reducing absenteeism and greenhouse gas emissions and increasing access to opportunity and quality of life!

Join us and Asm. Holden Tuesday, March 22, at 9 a.m. and we will tell you more!

And we encourage you to register here to automatically track the bill and any amendments—we expect one this week that will create a reimbursement scheme for transit agencies—and it will enable you to know when committee hearings are scheduled. 

Again RSVP for the AB 1919 Coalition Launch Zoom this Tuesday, March 22, at 9am when we will be joined by the bill author, Asm. Holden!

California has a massive budget surplus this year—thanks in part to Silicon Valley, the stock market, and the state's progressive income tax—and the $1.2 trillion federal infrastructure bill will provide the state with even more funding.

We believe a significant share of this windfall should become flexible funding for public transit including service and operations, because transit agencies are struggling as a result of the pandemic and the subsequent loss of ridership, farebox revenues, bus drivers and other transit workers—and they're cutting back service as a result. Click the graphic above to join us and our partners in this budget ask.