LA County Participatory Budgeting Initiative

Income inequality

County of Los Angeles (select only if your project has a countywide benefit)

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

Over the last 40 years, LA County has systematically divested public resources from the social safety net while increasing spending for criminalization and incarceration, disproportionately impacting poor and working-class communities of color. While community-driven initiatives like Measure J have secured hundreds of millions of public dollars for health and human services, the ultimate decision of how those funds are spent remains in the hands of elected officials, limiting innovation, increasing bureaucratic hurdles, and diluting the original intent of these measures. The lack of public awareness and education around county government and budget processes has shielded elected officials from public accountability, limited transparency, and allowed LA County’s budget to go largely unchallenged by county residents. These structural issues serve as the backdrop for a county now facing unprecedented income inequality, housing instability, economic uncertainty, & an erosion of democracy.

Our LA County Participatory Budgeting Initiative seeks to undo generations of community divestment in our county by establishing a co-governance model for public budgeting at the county and city levels. Our belief is that local communities are best equipped to make decisions on what they need to thrive, and that our current system of public spending is deeply misaligned with those needs. We also understand that the lack of civic engagement necessary to transform these systems is a direct reflection of the lack of investment in education, the inaccessibility of government and the systemic disempowerment of everyday residents. This initiative works to address these challenges by first increasing public education on how county budgeting currently operates and how we can democratize public spending through a co-governance model. We are then able to build on that educated base to increase civic engagement and advocacy in support of system transformation. By building the people-power necessary to move elected officials to adopt more democratic models of governing, like PB, we shift decision-making power into the hands of local communities to decide how public funding is spent. Our model is focused on empowering our most disenfranchised residents – Black and Brown communities, migrant people, poor and working class people, 2SNBTLGBQ+ individuals, justice impacted people, young people and elders – by focusing resources in LA County’s highest need areas.

Our long-term vision for Los Angeles is to empower residents to decide how public dollars are best spent to address our most pressing needs. This initiative challenges top-down budget structures through a bold, community-centered vision for public investment. With the successful 2023 launch of the PB Pilot Program in Supervisorial District 2, RELA is now able to demonstrate proof of concept that co-governance in budgetary decisions is a viable model that deepens trust between community and government. RELA is now building on this momentum by increasing community demand to expand PB into additional districts. Beyond geographic expansion, we are building advocacy power to push the Board of Supervisors to adopt PB for larger funding streams, like Measure J and AB109. Additionally, we are exploring partnerships with LA City leaders to establish PB at every level of local government. The initiative has the potential to significantly reshape our local budgets and undo decades of divestment.