Meeting: June 9, 2026
16 ITEM BY COUNCILMEMBERS HALL, ZERNITSKAYA, AND SNELL
Request of Councilmembers Hall, Zernitskaya, and Snell that Council direct the City Manager to sign “A Pledge for Shared Prosperity,” the anti-poverty pledge launched by the Los Angeles County Poverty Alleviation Initiative (PAI), and to integrate the pledge’s three countywide goals into Santa Monica’s existing outreach and benefits-access work.
On April 7, 2026, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, on a motion1 by Supervisors Mitchell and Horvath, directed the Poverty Alleviation Initiative (PAI) to launch a public-facing anti-poverty pledge2inviting all 88 cities in the County to sign on as partners. The pledge sets three countywide goals: 1) increase CalWORKs enrollment by 10,000 families; 2) increase Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit filings by 10% over two years through expanded Volunteer Income Tax Assistance and the County’s “Claim Your Cash Los Angeles” program; and 3) promote the “Keep Your Benefits” campaign to residents already enrolled in CalFresh and Medi-Cal. The goals respond to a sharp federal contraction: beginning June 2026, SNAP work requirements established by H.R. 1 will affect more than 250,000 CalFresh recipients across the County.
Cities that sign receive in-kind technical assistance, neighborhood-level data through the State of Poverty Dashboard, ready-to-use outreach toolkits, and eligibility for micro-grants to support local implementation. Santa Monica residents are eligible for these benefits but underclaim them; signing equips City staff with County-built tools to close that gap more effectively than we could on our own, and pairs naturally with the Affordability Agenda Council adopted on January 27, 2026.
In order to join Los Angeles County in connecting more Santa Monica families to the benefits and tax credits they are eligible to receive, WE THEREFORE MOVE THAT THE COUNCIL:
1. Direct the City Manager to:
1.1. Sign “A Pledge for Shared Prosperity” on behalf of the City and register the City as a pledge partner with PAI.
1.2. Promote CalWORKs enrollment, Claim Your Cash Los Angeles, Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, and the Keep Your Benefits campaign through the City’s standard communications channels and resident-facing touchpoints.
1.3. Coordinate with PAI on technical assistance, data sharing, and progress reporting.
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2 https://ceo.lacounty.gov/poverty-pledge/
1 https://ceo.lacounty.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/213997.pdf