Dear Neighbor,
Today, the Council voted to pass the Local Budget Act for Fiscal Year 2022. This legislation outlines the ways in which we will spend our local tax dollars to fund government programs and initiatives across our city.
This was the second vote on the Local Budget Act. On July 20th, immediately following the first vote, my office sent an update to neighbors to highlight the many important proposals that had been included. Those proposals included funding to increase the District’s affordable housing stock, alleviate homelessness, increase mental health supports in our public schools, and support our small businesses and local workforce, among many others.
To read our full budget update from July 20th, please click here.
In this newsletter, I am sharing information on some of the additional items and enhancements included today to make the Local Budget Act stronger and more comprehensive.
These items included:
- $105.9 million for the Office of Victim Services, $22.5 million of which funds the Access to Justice Initiative to provide civil legal aid to low and middle-income residents;
- $5 million to provide 60 new officers in the Metropolitan Police Department;
- 4 new Cure the Streets sites, 3 new Leadership Academies, and an additional $1.9 million for violence interruption efforts;
- $3.25 million to ensure that every DC public school has a full-time librarian on staff;
- $5 million in federal dollars for free HIV/AIDS testing;
- $5 million for one-time, $500 payments for 10,000 District residents who had to wait two months or longer to receive their unemployment insurance payments;
- $300,000 for the Dupont Underground to support a thriving local arts community and improve upon our cultural community spaces;
- $375,000 to design a cultural and education center on the C&O Canal in Georgetown, which will support our students and draw in tourism;
- $150,000 for a parking pilot program that will reduce congestion, prioritize limited parking spaces for residents, and improve turnover which will help our small businesses; and
- An additional $6 million for a total of $41 million to support excluded workers.
Next Tuesday, August 10th, the Council will conclude the budget process with a second and final vote on the Budget Support Act, legislation that will provide for any statutory changes required to implement the Fiscal Year 2022 budget, which goes into effect at the beginning of October 2021. We are working on a number of policy priorities, from hotel relief to affordable housing and teacher pay parity, to be included in the Budget Support Act.
I am extremely grateful for the work of my colleagues and for the advocacy from neighbors and community groups for making this budget process a success. As we near the end, I will continue working to ensure that we can leverage this budget to best meet our shared goals and priorities.
Yours in Service,
Brooke