Los
Angeles continues to struggle through the current recession. The
unemployment rate in Los Angeles hit a high of 13% in January
2010, up 115% from 2008.# The housing market bottomed out with
foreclosures increasing. In the last two years, the county - which
uses its $23.6 billion budget to provide a host of public safety,
health, welfare and other services - has lost $426 million in
state funding. Moreover, the state borrowed an additional $360
million in property tax revenues from the county.#
In response, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
(ARRA) dispersed $5.2 billion into Los Angeles county, including
$2.4 billion in education and $1.1 billion in transportation infrastructure.
This is the largest investment by the federal government in the
state and will work to diminish the impact of the recession in
Los Angeles; however without proper oversight these funds may
not reach the most impacted communities and sectors. Moreover,
in order to understand the affect of ARRA in Los Angeles County,
it is critical to detail how the funds were distributed to date,
and who benefitted most from the millions of dollars invested
in the region. Research shows that neighborhoods with the highest
foreclosures received some of the lowest ARRA funds.
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