Bass signs executive directive overhauling housing and business permitting
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass signed a sweeping executive directive Monday designed to make it faster and easier to build housing and open businesses in Los Angeles — deploying artificial intelligence, eliminating departmental bottlenecks, and connecting city agencies to a single digital permitting system for the first time.
“We’re not going to fix this by doing things the old way,” Bass said. “It takes real, structural change in how housing and businesses are approved and built across Los Angeles — and that’s exactly what these reforms deliver.”
The directive takes several concrete actions: launching the city’s first standard plan program for single-family homes with pre-approved building plans available through an easy-to-use portal; directing the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) to remove bottlenecks in connecting power to new buildings; advancing AI tools to speed up permitting reviews; connecting all city departments involved in development to a single digital system so approvals can be reviewed simultaneously rather than sequentially; and expanding online self-certification permitting for certain commercial renovations citywide.
Bass said many of the reforms were informed directly by lessons learned during the Palisades fire recovery effort, where emergency permitting innovations reduced timelines by up to 80 percent. Those approaches are now being expanded citywide.
The directive builds on three years of housing-focused executive action under Bass, during which street homelessness in Los Angeles has dropped by nearly 18 percent — the first consecutive two-year decline in the city’s history.
Solis delivers $750,000 to Montebello for new wildfire fire station
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair Hilda L. Solis (D-East Los Angeles, Montebello, El Monte, Alhambra, Baldwin Park, and communities of the eastern San Gabriel Valley and East LA) presented the City of Montebello with a $750,000 check Friday in discretionary Measure B funding to support the expansion of emergency medical services at the new Brush Wildland Fire Station in the Metro Heights area of north Montebello — a high-risk zone marked by steep terrain, dry vegetation, and increasing wildfire threats.
“Firefighters play a pivotal role in our neighborhoods, including providing essential medical services during emergencies,” Solis said. “This investment reflects my commitment to ensuring communities like Montebello are equipped to respond to emergency medical needs and lifesaving services in the field.”
The funding will support the build-out of Fire, Rescue and EMS Station 58 — a facility designed to strengthen emergency response capabilities and reduce response times in a city whose fire infrastructure has remained largely unchanged since 1947 despite significant population growth.
The new station will be Montebello’s fourth, built on a 5.5-acre site with apparatus bays, living quarters for on-duty personnel, and space for the Montebello Community Assistance Program team. Construction is expected to take 18 to 30 months once full funding is in place.
“This funding will directly go toward building out the important emergency medical services at Fire Station 58 in the Metro Heights area,” said Montebello Mayor Georgina Tamayo. “The building of Fire Station 58 will not only improve response times, but it will also enhance the safety and resilience of our entire community.”
“Fire Station 58 will serve as a modern, all-hazards response facility — equipped to handle wildfires, medical emergencies, and complex public safety challenges,” said City Manager Raul Alvarez. “We appreciate Supervisor Solis’ investment in our City and look forward to continuing to secure the resources needed to bring this project to completion.”
The funding comes from the $20 million in one-time Measure B funds distributed evenly among the five supervisorial districts by the LA County Board of Supervisors in July 2025 to address urgent health care and emergency response needs.
Kamlager-Dove wins bipartisan committee passage of bill to police American tech exports
U.S. Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Ladera Heights, Culver City, View Park, and communities of the mid-city and South Los Angeles corridor) won bipartisan committee passage this week of legislation that would triple the number of federal officers responsible for making sure American technology — semiconductors, artificial intelligence tools, and other sensitive exports — doesn’t end up in the hands of adversaries like China.
The problem the bill addresses is straightforward: the United States has laws on the books restricting the export of dual-use technologies — products with both civilian and military applications — to hostile nations. But the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), the federal agency responsible for enforcing those rules, currently has only 11 officers stationed worldwide to physically verify that exported technology is actually going where it’s supposed to go. With tens of thousands of transactions to monitor annually, that’s an enforcement gap large enough to drive a truck through.
“The U.S. cannot win the AI race if we do not safeguard our technological advantage,” Kamlager-Dove said. “California is the number one source of semiconductor manufacturing facilities and jobs in the country and plays a crucial role in advancing U.S. leadership in artificial intelligence. Export Control Officers are the backbone of BIS’s ability to enforce the regulations it administers.”
The Export Controls Enforcement Act, which passed the House Foreign Affairs Committee with bipartisan support, would require BIS to staff no fewer than 30 Export Control Officers globally — tripling current capacity.
The bill now advances to the full House for a floor vote.
Fong pushes to establish state designations for colleges serving Hispanic and AAPI students
Assemblymember Mike Fong (D-Alhambra, Monterey Park, San Gabriel, Rosemead, and communities of the western San Gabriel Valley) joined State Sen. Eloise Gómez Reyes yesterday at a press conference highlighting legislation to establish formal California state designations for colleges and universities that serve high concentrations of Hispanic and Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander students — two populations that have historically faced significant barriers to higher education.
“California’s public educational systems are at their best when they reflect the students they serve,” Fong said. “This designation represents a meaningful commitment to culturally responsive support and clear pathways to academic and professional success for students.”
Fong’s bill, AB 2374, would establish a state-level Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Serving Institution designation — mirroring the federal AANAPISI designation that recognizes campuses where at least 10 percent of undergraduates are AAPI and a significant share come from low-income backgrounds.
Reyes’s companion bill, SB 1255, would create a parallel California Hispanic-Serving Institution designation for campuses where at least 25 percent of undergraduates are Hispanic or Latino. Together, the bills follow the recent establishment of California’s Black Serving Institutions designation and would apply across the UC, CSU, California Community College, and eligible independent college systems.
Both AB 2374 and SB 1255 are awaiting hearings in their respective Appropriations Committees.
