Advocacy Priorities
In setting the League of California Cities annual advocacy priorities, cities remain committed to resiliency, response, and recovery to strengthen our cities and move our communities forward. We stand ready to work collaboratively with the state governments and other stakeholders to accomplish our advocacy priorities in 2024.
2024 Advocacy Priorities
Cities are the engine of the state economy. With a looming state budget deficit, it is critical to counter efforts by the state and corporations to erode or skim local revenue. Cal Cities supports increasing local revenue streams for local governments and opposes any effort to reduce or eliminate existing funding to cities. Cal Cities will use every tool in the toolbox — legislative, legal, and grassroots mobilization — to fight a 2024 ballot measure that represents an existential threat to local control. The measure, sponsored by the California Business Roundtable, would put at risk billions of dollars for essential local services. Cal Cities also supports legislation that will fund a state-local partnership to enhance economic development in these uncertain fiscal times.
The threat of climate change is no less during tough economic times. The state needs to accelerate its efforts to prepare, reduce, and adapt to the ever-changing risks posed by climate change — especially in vulnerable and under-resourced communities. These risks include wildfires, flooding, drought, and other extreme weather events. Cal Cities will pursue funding strategies, including potentially a bond, that provide cities with the necessary resources to improve community and infrastructure resiliency. Cal Cities will also seek to advance a partnership with state and federal agencies to strengthen essential infrastructure, including modernizing the state’s water supply and energy grid.
Cal Cities Delivers
Together, with our members, Cal Cities delivers major victories for cities year after year – protecting local control, securing billions of dollars in new funding, and preserving existing city resources.
100 +
bills/ballot measures passed or defeated to retain local control
$13 Billion
in new funding for cities in the past five years
$8+ Billion
in federal recovery funding in 2021
Curious why Cal Cities supports or opposes certain bills or measures? Advocacy efforts are determined by Annual Conference Resolutions or the Existing Policy and Guiding Principles.
Cal Cities' weekly hearings update — distributed via Cal Cities Advocate — highlights upcoming legislative hearings on the bills that matter most to cities. Read the report each Wednesday.
Laws affecting cities are made in the courts, as well as in the Legislature. Consequently, Cal Cities advocacy efforts extend to the appellate courts. The organization weighs in on legal issues where its participation is likely to help advance the legal interests of all California cities. Learn more about our Legal Advocacy efforts.