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Department on Disability warns 40% staff cut would hamper ADA compliance, AIDS services and Olympics preparation
Summary
The Department on Disability said the mayor’s proposed budget would eliminate about 40% of its regular positions, a reduction the department said would undermine ADA compliance work across city agencies, reduce HIV/AIDS harm‑reduction services, and leave the city unprepared for web accessibility rules and upcoming major events (World Cup, 2028).
Steven Simon, executive director of the City of Los Angeles Department on Disability, told the Budget Committee the mayor’s proposed budget would cut roughly 40% of regular positions in his department — a reduction he described as removing ‘‘the shield’’ the city uses to reduce ADA litigation risk and to deliver legally required access services across city programs.
Simon said the cuts would reduce the department’s ability to review and remedy accessibility issues across city programs and facilities, staff seats in the Emergency Operations Center, document remediation and web/mobile accessibility work, and coordination for sign‑language interpreting and volunteer/worker accessibility training. He emphasized the urgency of compliance with forthcoming accessibility rules for web and mobile apps: Simon said new federal guidance and enforcement for web/mobile accessibility takes effect in April 2026 and that the city currently lacks the staff to meet that deadline.
The department also said a proposed 45% reduction in funding for the AIDS Coordinator’s office would eliminate many community contracts (roughly eight of 14 contracts), reduce HIV testing, overdose‑prevention training and outreach, and decrease capacity to deliver street‑level harm reduction. Ricky Rosales, director of the AIDS office, described concrete impacts: fewer HIV tests, fewer overdose reversals and less outreach to unsheltered Angelenos.
Simon urged use of available opioid settlement funds to backfill general fund cuts that support harm‑reduction and outreach programs, and the department provided offsets and asked the CAO to analyze whether settlement funds could be used for eligible services while preserving general‑funded positions that deliver ADA and outreach services.
On preparations for the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympic/Paralympic Games, the department said it lacks dedicated staff to coordinate venue accessibility across the many official and unofficial event sites across the city and to scale sign‑language interpreting and other communication services. The department asked for a study of staffing and budget needs for major event accessibility and whether costs could be recovered from LA28 or other event organizers.
Councilmembers requested a CAO memo on the feasibility of using opioid settlement funds to offset AIDS coordinator cuts, and asked the department for a budget memo on staffing and IT needs to meet web/mobile accessibility requirements.
