Since the beginning of the year, there has been a record number of enrollment applications submitted for MediCAL, California’s state-support health insurance assistance program. This is no accident: When the Affordable Care Act (ACA) took effect last October, a few key changes in the program occurred, and activists, organizers, healthcare counselors, and other county workers,…
Continue ReadingReforming Education in South LA: We Can Do It!
In the past 15 years, South LA’s families and have worked hard to overcome deficiencies in the Los Angeles Unified District 1 school system—deficiencies that have resulted in overcrowded schools, low matriculation rates, and poor college attendance. June’s Los Angeles Unified School District 1 school board election provided us with an historic opportunity to reshape…
Continue ReadingOne Year Anniversary: Does the Mayor’s agenda reflect LA’s pressing needs?
Budget processes often go unnoticed by the general public. But months or even years later community members feel the effects of fiscal decisions often made for them without their input. Last month marked the completion of Mayor Eric Garcetti’s first year in office as well as the passage of his first city budget. How…
Continue ReadingPushing Back Against Wage Theft
For many low-income workers, securing a decent hourly wage is the holy grail. Unfortunately, collecting on that promised wage all too often becomes a battle they are forced to fight alone, usually with no hope of recovering the lost pay. Last month, two members of City Council, Paul Koretz and Gil Cedillo, along with the…
Continue ReadingSCOPE’s Members: The Foundation of Our Change
At SCOPE, a big part of our message is, and has always been, simply this: as residents of South LA, we are the ones who will make the change we seek. And we disseminate that message—throughout our community, to our city government, to businesses wanting to set up shop in our region—through the foundation of…
Continue ReadingBreaking Down Political Jargon
Breaking Down Political Jargon Earlier this month, SCOPE spent a week with students enrolled in Antioch University’s urban sustainability program to explore the history of taxes, the L.A. City budget, economic justice issues in South L.A., and the important work of making the political process accessible to members of our communities. I interviewed…
Continue Reading"Renters Make LA Work. It's Time to Make LA Work for Renters."
“Renters Make LA Work. It’s Time to Make LA Work for Renters.” Within a day after Mayor Eric Garcetti presented his plans for revitalizing Los Angeles during his first term, media coverage of affordable housing issues—a topic conspicuously left out of his agenda—spread across news outlets. “Californians can’t afford their rents,” read the first line…
Continue ReadingWhat's Missing From the Mayor's Agenda?
What’s Missing From the Mayor’s Agenda? On April 10, Mayor Eric Garcetti delivered his first State of the City address at the California Science Center, which focused on defining his “back to basics” agenda in Los Angeles. This is a talking point he’s used since before taking office last year—a phrase that suggests a strong…
Continue ReadingRestoring Equity to the City Budget
Restoring Equity to the City Budget With two weeks to go before Mayor Eric Garcetti releases his proposed city budget for the next fiscal year, community members and representatives of nearly 18 Los Angeles organizations gathered on the steps of City Hall on March 21 to voice their concerns about the sluggish economy, and to…
Continue ReadingThe Corrections Budget: Where’s the Empathy for Those Who Need it Most?
The Corrections Budget: Where’s the Empathy? At the recent California Budget Project’s Raising the Bar Conference, an annual meeting of progressive leaders held in Sacramento, attendees worked to shape a policy agenda that creates shared prosperity in California. With an eye on the recent hard-won revenue increases and growing inequality across the state, the conference…
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