MALIBU — The city of Malibu sent a letter to Congressional leaders asking for additional funding in the next COVID-19 stimulus bill for local governments, and specifically for help with Malibu’s “conversion to an all-electric city fleet” of vehicles.
“I am writing today to strongly urge you to support $500 billion in direct and federal assistance to local governments of all sizes to sustain core serv,ices for our residents and to support public health and economic recovery in our communities,” read the letter written by Mayor Mikke Pierson.
The letter detailed that the financial impacts of COVID-19 had “impacted municipal budgets across the country in ways that local governments could never have foreseen.” The letter continued, stating that these financial impacts have postponed critical environmental projects such as “a solar energy project, conversion to an all-electric city fleet, streetlight upgrades, and resiliency projects related to wildfire and earthquake preparation.”
The letter was sent to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, saying that although the COVID-19 health measures “have saved lives…they also come at a cost.” Pierson cited the revenue shortfall of California cites which totals $7 billion.
McConnel responded to the letter on Wednesday, August 5 saying, “Yesterday, I received an urgent letter from the city of Malibu, California… and — I promise I am not making this up — they asked Congress for hundreds of billions of dollars for state and local governments because they have had to delay their ‘conversion to an all-electric city fleet.’”
Pierson ended the letter saying, “Cities are the economic engines of our state and the backbone of this nation. Recovery from this unprecedented crisis will only be realized at the local level with strong support from the federal government.”
