This week, the LABC led a delegation of its members to Washington, DC to join the LA Chamber’s annual Access DC advocacy trip. LABC members had the opportunity to meet and connect with the nation’s leaders in housing, transportation, clean energy, and economic development. Highlights of the week included keynote speeches from U.S. Senator Alex Padilla and Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, and panel conversations featuring congressmembers, department leadership, and policy experts.
On Tuesday, March 28th, the LABC hosted its Congressional Dinner & Cocktail Hour where we were joined by an excellent group of Congressional leaders, who spoke to us about their legislative priorities for 2023, including: Congressmember and Chair of the Democratic Caucus Pete Aguilar, Congressmember Adam Schiff, Congressmember Brad Sherman, Congressmember Tony Cárdenas, and Congressmember Sydney Kamlager – Dove.
We also had several VIPs joining us, including: Los Angeles City Councilmember Traci Park, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Intergovernmental Affairs at the U.S. Department of Transportation Charles Small, Glendale Councilmember and LA Metro Board Chair Ara Najarian, Los Angeles Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins, Executive Director of the Port of Los Angeles Gene Seroka, and of course, all of our attendees representing the leadership of major public, private, and academic institutions. A major thank you to our sponsors, HDR, Inc. and the University of Southern California, who made the event possible!
On Wednesday, March 29th, LABC members had an opportunity to meet with officials from the U.S. Departments of Treasury and Housing and Urban Development. At the Department of Treasury, members met with a team led by Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyamo and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Tax and Climate Policy Seth Hanlon to learn more about forthcoming guidelines for clean energy and transportation incentives from the Inflation Reduction Act.
At the Department of Housing & Urban Development, members met with Deputy Secretary Adrianne Todman and a group of senior advisors to discuss coordination between HUD and the LA region on efforts around housing supply, affordable housing development and preservation, improving the local deployment and implementation of HUD funding, and forthcoming funding opportunities for efforts around homelessness.
