Kitty Felde
May 05, 2009
Listen
Five Los Angeles County supervisors, the district attorney, and the sheriff are all in Washington, D.C. this week to lobby for federal dollars. KPCC's Washington Correspondent Kitty Felde reports they've planned a full agenda.
Kitty Felde: L.A. County Supervisor Don Knabe has been coming to Capitol Hill for more than a quarter century. He says it makes sense to ask for federal money because the federal government requires the county to provide so many services.
Knabe has a special project to lobby for this time around: continued Pentagon funding for the C-17 cargo jet. It's built in his Long Beach district. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the government has enough of the huge cargo planes. Knabe disagrees.
Don Knabe: It just doesn't make any sense right now when the president's out there talking about stimulus dollars, he's talking about retaining jobs, creating new jobs, to take 35,000 jobs and throw them out, $8 billion to our economy, and just get rid of it. I mean it just doesn't make sense.
Felde: Also on Knabe's list: the federal response to swine flu, dredging Marina del Rey, and getting better communications equipment for law enforcement. The chairman of the L.A. County supervisors plans to spend three days making the rounds of House and Senate offices.
Knabe: Many cases we're here to say "thank you," and other cases, we're here to beg, and other cases, we're here to threaten.
Felde: Which works best?
Knabe: Honey.
Felde: Knabe says May is the perfect time to lobby. Not because it's spring on Capitol Hill, but because it's budget season.
