Unfortunately, that's not necessarily the case because Metro and its contractors cannot steer jobs to local residents if the project receives federal funding. The agency can and has required that contractors hire 40% of workers from low-income areas but these areas can be anywhere in the USA.
The ban on targeted geographical hiring may have made sense in the past when the federal government put up most of the cost of transportation projects — if taxpayers nationwide paid for the project then workers nationwide should be hired to build it. But Los Angeles is paying most of the cost of its transportation projects with revenues from Measure R, the half-cent sales tax adopted by voters in 2008. LA County taxpayers are paying 80% of the cost of the Crenshaw Line, for example, in neighborhoods where jobs are desperately needed.
Fortunately Rep. Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) has introduced the Local Hire Act, which would change federal law to allow local hiring targets.
Read more in the LA Times editorial.
The ban on targeted geographical hiring may have made sense in the past when the federal government put up most of the cost of transportation projects — if taxpayers nationwide paid for the project then workers nationwide should be hired to build it. But Los Angeles is paying most of the cost of its transportation projects with revenues from Measure R, the half-cent sales tax adopted by voters in 2008. LA County taxpayers are paying 80% of the cost of the Crenshaw Line, for example, in neighborhoods where jobs are desperately needed.
Fortunately Rep. Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) has introduced the Local Hire Act, which would change federal law to allow local hiring targets.
Read more in the LA Times editorial.
Do you like this post?