LA County Reimagined: Pushing for a Care First Budget
The budget that LA County creates over the next few weeks will determine who lives and who dies. Protecting our residents in this moment requires us to address the three-pronged crisis of COVID-19, economic and racial inequality, and incarceration.
However, LA County’s 2020-2021 proposed budget allocates 42% of taxpayer dollars to an unjust policing system, which includes The Sheriff’s Department, The Probation Department, and The District Attorney’s Office. The lion’s share of that budget – $3.4 BILLION – is going to the LA Sheriff’s Department, a department notorious for the murder of our community members inside and outside of the jails.
By contrast, services that promote community health and well-being receive $1.3 billion – only 15% of net county costs.
The proposed budget does not align with the needs of LA residents or the county’s “care first” mission.