Sacramento has “rejected the vast majority of transportation funding requests” linked to the L.A. 2028 Olympics — a situation that leaves L.A. Metro “struggling as much with Sacramento as with the Republican-controlled White House and Congress when it comes to financial support to move athletes and visitors,” according to Rainey & McDaniel of the L.A. TIMES. L.A. Metro asked for $379M for Olympics-related transportation projects in the just-completed legislative session. It got only $20M. The “behind-the-scenes budget fight” in Sacramento comes as L.A. has been “locked in a delicate dance with Washington over funding Congress needs to allocate, likely with” President Trump’s blessing. Legislators in Sacramento signaled that they are “loathe to push money toward Olympic transportation in the face of what they see as stalling in Washington.” California Gov. Gavin Newsom appeared in front of the Memorial Coliseum with L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and state lawmakers last Friday to “tout contributions the state has made to support the Olympics in other ways,” including $96.5M to “upgrade and modernize” Exposition Park around the historic stadium. State Senate President Monique Limón of Santa Barbara said that the state had “made a ‘meaningful investment’ in communities hosting the games” — pointing to the $20M for transportation and $10M for policing. The funding denials from Sacramento are for “projects that need to get underway soon in order to be ready in time for the opening ceremonies” at the L.A Memorial Coliseum and SoFi Stadium on July 14, 2028. Given the time constraints, it is “unclear which proposals L.A. transportation leaders might bring back to the state Capitol next year” (L.A. TIMES, 9/22).
