Los Angeles Area to Receive $300 Million in FEMA Reimbursements

An LAUSD employee receives her COVID-19 vaccination at a site opened by the district, on Feb. 17, 2021. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

The Los Angeles area will receive $300 million in emergency reimbursement funds, Mayor Karen Bass announced Feb. 27 after a trip to Sacramento to seek the FEMA payments.

The money will cover COVID-19 expenses, homelessness efforts, and storm relief. Besides the city, other recipients include the Los Angeles Unified School District, Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, and the Loma Linda University Medical Center, according to the mayor’s website.

The city will receive $60 million in reimbursements for COVID expenses.

“We must continue to do all we can to join forces at every level of government to save lives and bring Angelenos inside,” said Mayor Karen Bass on her website.

The trip to the Capitol, included not only Ms. Bass, but a delegation of four Los Angeles City Councilmembers and Council President Paul Krekorian.

“The City of Los Angeles stepped up during simultaneous crises of homelessness, COVID, and catastrophic storms,” Mr. Krekorian said.

The group also met with Caltrans chief Toks Omishakin on cleaning up freeway underpasses.

City representatives have regularly reminded federal officials about outstanding FEMA payments, the mayor’s website says. In recent months, Ms. Bass met with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Acting Deputy Secretary Kristie Canegallo, and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell.