Assembly Member Steven Bradford (D-Gardena) backs Governor Jerry Brown as he signs SB 292 and AB 900

Assembly Member Steven Bradford (D-Gardena) attended a press conference and signing ceremony today at the Los Angeles Convention Center to mark the signing of SB 292, which authorizes construction of a new football stadium in downtown Los Angeles.

SB 292 will fast-track construction of Farmers Field, which is being financed by developer Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) and is scheduled to open by 2016. The bill also includes renovation of the Convention Center’s West Hall.

"This is a big step forward for our economic recovery," Assembly Member Bradford said. "We’re going to put a lot of people to work at a time when people need jobs."

Economic analyses of the stadium proposal by both AEG and the City of Los Angeles predict tens of thousands of temporary and permanent jobs resulting from construction and operation of the stadium. The $1.3 billion deal, which does not rely on any taxpayer dollars, also includes renovation of the Los Angeles Convention Center.

The Governor also signed AB 900, a companion jobs bill that is modeled after SB 292. It will fast-track other large project proposals in order to bring jobs to the state as quickly as possible.

The project is supported by the Environmental Resources Defense Council, the California League of Conservation Voters, and the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO.

"Today we showed how to bring competing interests together for the good of the state," Bradford continued. "This project is a model of collaboration and partnership."

The signing ceremony was attended by the Governor, Assembly Speaker John Pérez, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, former Governor Gray Davis, AEG President and CEO Tim Leiweke, labor leaders and other public officials.

Assembly Member Bradford was a principal co-author of SB 292.

Assemblymember Steven C. Bradford represents the 51st Assembly District, comprised of the cities of Gardena, Hawthorne, Lawndale, and Inglewood, and the communities of Athens, Lennox, South Central LA, Westchester, Willowbrook, Playa Vista, and parts of Ladera Heights and West Compton.

Contact: Matt Stauffer, 310-412-6400