Karen Bass aims to reverse L.A.’s — and the nation’s — decadeslong struggle with homelessness

Karen Bass’ first act after taking the oath of office as Los Angeles’ mayor in December 2022 was to declare a state of emergency on homelessness.

Now, Bass, the first woman to lead the City of Angels, has also set her sights on tackling homelessness at the national level as chair of the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ Task Force on Homelessness.

This week, the former California congresswoman helped lead a bipartisan group of more than 50 mayors from across the country back to her old stomping grounds on Capitol Hill.

The mayors — together representing 17 million people — laid out a three-pronged national policy agenda to confront homelessness on the city, state and federal levels.

“In order to make tangible change in the greatest crisis facing Los Angeles and hundreds of cities across the country, we know we must continue to work in partnership with leaders across the country,” said Bass, who led the convening with the conference president, Hillary Schieve, mayor of Reno, Nevada.

The task force called for more funding for the Housing Choice Voucher program, a federal effort under the Department of Housing and Urban Development that assists low-income, elderly and disabled people with securing housing in the private market.

The mayors want to lift certain caps and restrictions of project-based vouchers for public housing, which they said would provide cities with greater flexibility to build more affordable housing.

The mayors also called for more robust housing assistance for military veterans during a news conference Tuesday organized with Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., the ranking member of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.

The mayors explained that unintended barriers are preventing unhoused veterans from coming