Dear Neighbor,

Today, the Council passed our final vote on the Budget Support Act (BSA), which included many of the priorities I have fought for on your behalf. The BSA is the authorizing law that implements changes to the budget; the Local Budget Act that we passed last week included the funding investments themselves.  

I am pleased the BSA includes important provisions I fought for including:  

• maintaining the very successful Safe Commercial Corridors program

• encouraging more workforce housing on smaller lots by lowering the tax abatement requirement to 30 units  

• establishing the fund to support the redevelopment of former federal buildings  

• requiring rat proof public litter cans at newly renovated and modernized DCPS and DPR facilities

• passing through more dollars to our families who benefit from TANF

• ensuring literacy resources for adult learners

I also want to highlight important investments in our Ward 2 communities including funding for: turf replacement at Garrison Elementary, a new multi-use turf field at Kennedy Rec Center, Seaton Elementary School modernization, a new Center City Middle School, a new Volta Park Spray Park, a new ADA trail connection at 34th Street, completion of Ellington Field renovations, a new and first ever Ward 2 Senior Center, and streetscape and plaza improvements in Gallery Place/Chinatown.

The District is grappling with a shifting federal landscape, building vacancies, and the rising cost of living. Additionally, the policies of this presidential administration on government layoffs, immigration enforcement, and tariffs have deeply hurt District residents and our economy. It is essential for the Council to put forth a budget that confronts the urgent need to diversify our local economy, provide innovative economic opportunities for DC residents, and prioritize public safety while maintaining fiscal responsibility.

This year, the Council was able to fund important priorities while avoiding significant tax increases. However, I continue to have serious reservations about the use of our reserves and caution that the continued use of these funds in the future could prove perilous for the District. Reserves should be used for cash flow and emergencies, not for one time funding of programming.  

It is very important that we have a tax structure that is progressive while also encouraging economic growth so that we can generate jobs, keep businesses here and bring new ones, and help ensure all of our families, all of our residents and seniors can thrive. We cannot do this and fund everything we need to as a city without people coming here, growing, and opening their business here. We need both.  

Below you’ll find a list of additional budget highlights I fought for on your behalf. Thank you to all of you who were involved in this budget process from attending our townhall, to budget hearings, to visiting my office, or writing in – this is a budget I hope you are proud of.

Yours in service,

Brooke

Investments in public safety and justice include:

• Allocating $100M in FY 2027 to the Workforce Investment Account to ensure our firefighters and other union members get pay increases
• Restoring the FY 2027 budget for Access to Justice (ATJ) to $31.8M in one-time funding
• Restoring $5.1M for Victim Services Grants, with a total of $56M for FY 2027
• Allocating $200K in one-time funding to design a new Deferred Retirement Option Program (DROP) for eligible MPD and Fire and EMS Department personnel; this analysis is needed to pass and implement Councilmember Pinto’s DROP bill
• Passing enhancements for the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) for a total FY 2027 agency budget of $159.8M to ensure the agency is equipped to protect DC residents
• Allocating $500K to create a new independent Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services facilities oversight body under the Council, filling the gap left by the sunsetting of the Office of Independent Juvenile Justice Facilities Oversight
• Allocating $2.6M in one-time funding, to support the Pathways Program, which aims to reduce violence across the District by equipping individuals at highest risk with the social, emotional, and civic engagement skills needed to build safer, stronger communities
• Allocating $900K in FY 2027 and $200K in additional funding in FY 2026 to support Safe and Secure grants to enhance the security of nonprofit facilities, including houses of worship, at risk of terrorist or extremist attacks
• Allocating an additional $1.4 million for the Lead Up and Lead Out program to support people serving a sentence at the DC jail

Investments in economic resilience and growth include:

• Allocating $300M to expand the capacity of the Stadium Armory Metro Station for the RFK development
• Allocating $450K in one-time funding to restore funding for downtown activations and events outside the MLK Library
• Funding the Gallery Place/Chinatown Task Force Recommendations to reimagine our public spaces to be more pedestrian friendly, which include $3.5M in FY27 for Gallery Square, $3.6M in FY27 for the Chinatown Alleyway, and $13.5M in FY27, $3.5M in FY28 for 7th Street NW
• Allocating $25K in one-time funding for an enhancement to the clean team for 14th Street NW to cover more of 14th Street and to beautify tree boxes along the corridor
• Allocating $800K in one-time funding to install bathrooms in the Dupont Underground
• Allocating $7M to attract businesses and diversify our economy through the Vitality Fund and Tech Ecosystem
• Allocating $1M for potential site evaluations in DC for Children’s Hospital location to maintain healthcare and jobs

Investments in housing and affordability include:

• Approving a total of $28.2M in FY 2027, and $142.7M over the Financial Plan, across both DHS and DCHA to ensure 495 vouchers (252 for families and 243 for individuals) remain available to help residents’ experiencing homelessness move into stable housing
• Making enhancements to the Department of Buildings (DOB) for a total FY 2027 agency total of $67M
• Allocating $171K and 1 FTE for an additional program manager supporting zoning and permit expediting. Councilmember Pinto secured the funding for this position and it's essential for removing red tape from the permitting process to build housing more quickly and to prepare for upcoming zoning changes with the Comprehensive Plan
• Allocating $636K in one-time funding for the Housing Purchase Assistance Program (HPAP) to help more residents purchase homes in the District
• Passing enhancements for the Housing Production Trust Fund (HPTF), for a total FY 2027 agency budget of $62.6M
• Eliminating the FY 2027 pause on family and medical leave and increases the number of weeks workers can take for medical leave from eight to 10 weeks
• Allocating $200K in one-time funding to extend and expand the Grocery Access Pilot Program, which connects low-income families in food deserts with fresh food via home delivery  

Investments to support education and young people include:

• Increasing the Uniform Per Student Funding Formula (UPSFF) per pupil foundation level up to $15,648
• Increasing the Pay Equity Fund through a one-time $60M enhancement to cover the gap between projected and actual expenditures, for a total FY 2027 budget of $72M
• Enhancing the Child Care Subsidy Program to remove the waitlist through a $10 million one-time increase in FY 2026 as well as a $39M one-time increase in FY 2027, bringing total funding levels for the program to $150.0 million in FY 2026 and $153.2M in FY 2027
• Passing enhancements for the DC Public Charter Schools (DCPCS)¸ for a total FY 2027 agency budget of $1.5 billion
• Passing enhancements to the Public Charter School Board (PCSB), for a total FY 2027 agency budget of $16.8M
• Investing $1M in one-time funding for lead pipe testing within public charter schools
• Funding $2.4M, including $234K in one-time funding and $9.1M over the Financial Plan, and $435K in FY 2026, to expand DPR recreation hours and programs to ensure our children and teens have safe and engaging places to recreate
• Funding $700K in one-time funds to restore grant funding for the School-Based Behavioral Health Program
• Allocating $41.8M in FY27, $33.4M in FY28 for Seaton Elementary School Modernization, which will begin this summer and reopen for the 2028-2029 school year
• Allocating $58.6M in FY27 and $47.3M in FY28 for the new Center City Middle School
• Funding $1M for Garrison Elementary field re-turf, which serves as one of the most used fields across DC

Investments to support seniors include:

• Passing enhancements to the Department of Aging and Community Living (DACL), for a total FY 2027 agency budget of $65.2M
• Supporting Senior Villages for $1.25M in FY27
• Funding $110K to support a grant for a hotline attorney at the Legal Counsel for the Elderly to provide legal assistance to District seniors
• Funding $147K and one FTE (full-time equivalent) for a senior workforce programs coordinator position with the Workforce Investment Council
• Funding $500K in one-time funding to support foreclosure prevention for seniors
• Moving up $3M from FY30 to FY29 for the Ward 2 Senior Center; the total project budget remains $30M

Investments to support the arts, recreation, the environment, and the LGBTQQIA+ community:

• Funding the Commission on the Arts and Humanities, for a total FY 2027 agency budget of $47.6M
• Allocating $2M in one-time funding for a grant to Ford’s Theater Society
• Allocating $500,000 in one-time funding for a 2:1 matching, large capital project grant for Woolly Mammoth Theatre
• Passing enhancements for the Office of LGBTQ Affairs (OLGBTQA) within the Executive Office of the Mayor, for a total FY 2027 office budget of $856K, which includes $200K in one-time funding for grants to address gaps in culturally competent and targeted programs created by the consolidation of OLGBTA’s grant funds under Serve D.C.
• Allocating $543K in one-time funding for the Anacostia River Cleanup Fund, including a complete restoration of the wildlife rehabilitation grant
• Allocating $250K in one-time funding to support the E-bike Incentive Program
• Funding $1.5M for a new multi-use, turf field at Kennedy Recreation Center
• Completing Ellington Field renovations for $1.5M added to FY27
• Funding signage at newly named Greens Court Park (Foggy Bottom) and Harmony Park (Shaw)
• Allocating and additional $500K to complete the Volta Park Spray Park project
• Funding new accessible trail connection at 34th Street, connecting the C&O Canal to Water Street & M Street next to the Key Bridge
• Funding the Long Bridge Pedestrian and Bicycle Connection for $19.7M in FY30, $32M in FY31

In the Community

Over the last several weeks, Councilmember Pinto and Team Pinto have met with residents, advocacy groups, and District officials in Ward 2 and across the District, including:

• Marching in the Capital Pride Parade to celebrate our LGBTQQIA+ neighbors

• Attending the 44th annual Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington RAMMYs awards ceremony to celebrate our local restaurants

• Joining neighbors in Chinatown to celebrate the unveiling of a mural of Mabel Ping-Hua Lee, a Chinese American women’s rights activist who fought for the right of women to vote even though the discriminatory Chinese Exclusion Act prohibited her from casting a ballot herself

• Joining West End residents to discuss pedestrian safety challenges and solutions

• Touring Seaton Elementary School at KC Lewis to view the ongoing work and preparations for Seaton to swing to KC Lewis as their school modernization work takes place for the next two school years

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