Under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), the city of Los Angeles received more than $1.2 billion dollars in COVID relief funds. This funding presented local governments with what the U.S Treasury department described as “a once in a generation opportunity” to invest in affordable housing.
But two years later, the city hasn’t allocated a single cent from the $1.2 billion award towards building temporary shelters or permanent housing for the homeless.
Instead, nearly two thirds of the money has gone to paying the salaries of police officers and firefighters, according to a July report from the City Administrative Officer (CAO).
According to the report, more than $317 million ARPA dollars went towards covering Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers’ salaries in 2021 and more than $475 million went to covering the salaries of both sworn and civilian Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) employees in the last two years.
In total, roughly one billion dollars has been spent or designated to cover the costs of "critical government services."