THE BUZZ: SHE’S BAAAAACK — Karen Bass resigned from Congress three years ago after winning the race to be Los Angeles mayor. But even in her new post, she just can’t quit Washington. Bass is back in the nation’s capital this week for at least the fourth trip during her mayoral term — and, in what is becoming a signature move, she came with a crowd in tow. This time, she is visiting in her capacity as chair of the U.S. Conference of Mayors Task Force on Homelessness, leading a coterie of nearly 50 mayors in meetings with Biden administration officials and top lawmakers on the Hill. Drop-bys to her former workplace — both in Washington and Sacramento, where she once served as Assembly Speaker — have become a recurring theme for Bass, who said that as mayor, she now sees how certain state or federal laws end up stymieing progress on combating homelessness. “As I got started in my administration, I kept finding barriers for why we could not get things done,” she told Playbook, as we hitched a ride with her to a meeting at the Housing and Urban Development Department. “And I think it's a combination of very old, outdated policies that actually in today's situation — massive numbers of people unhoused — actually contributes to the problem.” Bass has fashioned herself as a tour guide of sorts, bringing mayors (and in past visits, members of LA City Council) to her old stomping grounds, with a lobbying strategy informed by her time being on the receiving end of such visits. “I know what members want to hear and what they don't want to hear,” she said. “It's most important to not come and spend too much time talking about the problem. Members want to hear solutions — what is it that you want? What is it that I can do? How can I be helpful?” One specific ask for this trip: raising the income thresholds for veterans seeking housing vouchers. The appeal was heard by a number of top White House officials, including chief of staff Jeff Zients, Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough and Health Secretary Xavier Becerra. The itinerary on the Hill skews largely toward Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Budget Chair Sheldon Whitehouse. But there are also a number of Republicans in the mix, including House Majority Leader Steve Scalise. Tom Perez, who directs the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and also met with the group on Monday, said the bipartisan composition of the delegation meant there was little overt political positioning. “There were over a dozen Republican mayors in the room and I can't pick out who's who. And that's the beauty of it,” he said. “What everybody had in common there is they understood they had a problem.” Among the delegation are a number of Californians, including Mayors Darrell Steinberg of Sacramento, Sheng Thao of Oakland and Jerry Dyer of Fresno. But the group also includes mayors from much smaller cities that may not immediately stand out as homelessness hotspots. Los Angeles, the epicenter of the crisis, could threaten to suck all the oxygen out of the room, so Bass said these meetings were not the time for one-upmanship about the scope of the city’s problem. “I don't spend a lot of time talking about the numbers in LA because that just seems so massive — just throwing your hands up and saying ‘forget it,’” she said. “If we combine all of our efforts and not look at one as more important than the other, then our ability and possibility of bringing about change is much greater. If I was just up here singing LA's song — you know that there's not a lot of love for California. ABC: Anywhere but California.” GOOD MORNING. Happy Tuesday. Thanks for waking up with Playbook. Now you can text us at 916-562-0685 — save it as “CA Playbook” in your contacts now. Or drop us a line at lkorte@politico.com and dgardiner@politico.com, or on X — @DustinGardiner and @Lara_Korte. WHERE’S GAVIN? Nothing official announced.
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