We must pursue and win an economic-justice agenda that stabilizes our communities now and positions us for mobility as we move beyond this political crisis.
–Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas
Jobs
As the daughter of a single, teenage mom—a homecare worker, who worked two jobs and put herself through school—I know firsthand what a good job can do for a family. That’s why I’m working to increase family-sustaining jobs, prioritize the needs of working families, and strengthen labor laws. By addressing the income inequality crisis in California, we get to the root cause of the biggest problems we face and develop the tools needed to sustain housing, build environmental protection infrastructure, and make our communities safe. For too long, our economy has been rigged to benefit the wealthy, while the majority struggle to survive. My focus in the State Legislature involves:
- making sure corporations pay their fair share
- enforcing our strong labor laws and holding employers accountable
- investing in apprenticeships and workforce development
- partnering with employers in the tech, information, sports and entertainment, housing, and healthcare sectors to increase jobs
- prioritizing public employment with our tax dollars
- cutting the red-tape for small business owners
- and expanding anti-discrimination and sexual harassment protections.
Homelessness
I am fighting to ensure everyone’s fundamental right to housing by addressing production, affordability, and services—because no one should be living on the streets. Yet today there are more than 72,000 individuals experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles County alone. With unprecedented levels of State investments committed to address this crisis, my priority is to ensure L.A. County receives all the resources it needs and that we’re using those resources effectively. This means working closely with our partners at the County and City levels to guarantee funds go to those who are most vulnerable and that we use strong transparency metrics to ensure our strategies to address homelessness are working.
The disproportionate number of Black people experiencing homelessness is a by-product of institutional and structural racism in education, criminal justice, housing, employment, and healthcare. There are deep systemic changes that need to be made, including actively enforcing housing discrimination laws and solving wage disparities and the housing-wage imbalance, where rents are rising faster than wages.
I support increasing and improving the delivery of mental health services and substance use treatment. I also support innovative solutions such as Project Roomkey, which provided hotel and motel rooms for homeless people during the COVID pandemic. And building and maintaining very low-income and affordable housing to protect residents most at risk of homelessness must also be part of the job creation boom California’s economy needs.
The work we did in the Legislature in the past year alone helps reduce homelessness through State investments that will create thousands of new homes for California families. With fellow lawmakers, I helped pass legislation to streamline CEQA requirements for in-fill housing (SB 131) and protect the “Good Samaritan” right to provide food, water, bedding, shelter, and medical help to unhoused people (SB 634). And I’m also proud to have authored SB 572, allowing the site at 5401 Crenshaw Boulevard, which sat vacant for nearly a decade, to be transferred to a nonprofit or community land trust and redeveloped as affordable housing and a workforce training center.
Healthcare
It’s time to remove healthcare from the negotiating table. I will fight to establish quality universal healthcare that is funded through progressive taxation. The pandemic exposed how fragile our healthcare system is. We need to adopt a Medicare for All model if we want all Californian’s to thrive. I support expanding community health clinics and on-campus wellness centers in high schools, protecting public hospitals from corporate takeovers and closures, and growing our healthcare workforce. I’m focusing particular attention on the mental health crisis we’re facing, which largely impacts our youth, by reexamining how we provide these critical services and working towards expanding access to everyone throughout the state. And I am also a champion of keeping California a safe haven for people seeking reproductive healthcare and abortion services. I will not back down in the fight to deliver the care people need to live healthy lives.
In last year’s session, I supported the Healthcare Affordability Act (AB 1415), as well as legislation to expand behavioral health access (SB 27), eliminate authorization delays on receiving routine medical care (SB 306), and make Medi-Cal more responsible for timely access to services (SB 530).
Community Safety
All communities deserve to be safe places where people can thrive. As I look across our District, I know the number of police on the street alone does not make our neighborhoods safer. Safety comes from services, opportunity, and combatting the root causes of poverty and inequity instead of leading with a surveillance and incarceration approach. Our justice system should be centered around diversion, rehabilitation, fairness, de-escalation, crisis intervention, and law enforcement accountability.
I support the due process of law and the sanctity of life, particularly among vulnerable Black, Brown, and poor communities. I’ve been working to address sentencing disparities, improve integrated reentry, and make parole more accessible.
I’ve consistently introduced and championed legislation to address the underlying causes that lead to crime, move us closer to ending mass incarceration, improve community safety, and make California more just. This year, I’ve authored the Reentry Pilot Project (SB 75) to provide workforce training in the skilled trades and transitional support to formerly incarcerated individuals, and I wrote the bill (SB 423) to create a firefighter training pipeline for incarcerated individuals and a post-release hiring program to reduce recidivism and create stable career paths.
Environment
I lead from an intersectional lens, and the climate crisis impacts all of us and touches every issue. We need to protect our planet and sustain families. This means setting and meeting carbon neutrality and emissions goals, and ensuring we prioritize environmental justice for the communities of color that bear the biggest burden from pollution, environmental hazards, and associated health risks.
The 28th Senate District is home to the Inglewood Oil Field, which is the largest oil field in an urban area anywhere in the country. I support an end to the oil drilling that pollutes our neighborhoods and causes chronic and life-threatening diseases in the people of our community. The State can and must phase out fossil fuels and invest in clean energy and green technology that also creates a new jobs-driven economy.
Our District is also home to some amazing green spaces, including Exposition Park, the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook, and Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area. But we need to create even more green spaces through innovative urban planning. I have fought for interconnected climate strategies, clean air and clean water solutions, and parks and recreation policies that prioritize the health and wellbeing of our neighborhoods, hold polluters accountable, develop more tree canopy and open space, and create good jobs in our communities. That’s why I secured funding to support the planning and design for a new park, open space, and recreation area in Windsor Hills on land owned by Los Angeles County.
Additionally, in 2023, I wrote the bill to advance electric vehicle equity (SB 823) by allowing customers without access to an EV charging device at their homes to participate in existing EV charging discount programs. And this year, to meet our ambitious zero-emissions goals, I helped pass the Cap-and-Invest reauthorization, which will stabilize the energy market and drive down electricity costs. I’ll keep working to make our communities safer, healthier, and more sustainable.
Economic Development / Anti-Displacement
With housing legislation that I carry or support, I’m always working to factor in safeguards against gentrification and displacement, to keep existing residents from being forced out of their homes and neighborhoods.
Also, at a time when federal actions are putting DEI initiatives and cultural institutions at risk, I’m helping chart a different path for California—one rooted in inclusion, equity, and respect for all communities of color. On the heels of the California Arts Council designating 14 Cultural Districts for special cultural significance and preservation without a single historically Black community recognized, I got to work to fix that omission. In my first term, I drove the multi-year effort to formally recognize Black cultural heritage in South Los Angeles and delivered millions in state funding to support monuments and markers honoring the history and contributions of Black Los Angeles. In 2025, I secured even more state investment for continued planning, community engagement, and development of the district’s physical and cultural infrastructure. Because of these efforts, the California Arts Council voted unanimously this past December to officially designate the area as the Historic South Los Angeles Black Cultural District, making it California’s first-ever state-recognized Black Cultural District.
This important designation elevates the visibility of South Los Angeles and positions the community to benefit from economic and cultural opportunities tied to major national and international events, including the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Men’s World Cup, the NBA All-Star Game, and the NFL Super Bowl. It supports cultural preservation, community-driven economic development, and sustained investment in local Black businesses, artists, innovators, and residents.
And speaking of the international games headed to Los Angeles this year, I’m proud to serve on the Senate Special Committee on International Sporting Events, where I have championed smart, sustainable investment that ensures our region is not on the hook for costs related to hosting the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup. I’ve also worked to make our region a model for how tourism can uplift communities
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