Obama Administration "Strongly Opposes' D.C. Marijuana and Abortion Riders, Reiterates Call for Budget and Legislative Autonomy

Press Release

The Office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) announced that the Obama Administration today called on the House to reject the D.C. marijuana and abortion riders in the Fiscal Year 2015 District of Columbia Appropriations bill, which the House will consider tonight, and grant D.C. budget and legislative autonomy. The Statement of Administration Policy (SAP) said the administration "strongly opposes" the bill's prohibitions on the District's spending of its own local funds to implement its local marijuana policies, and provide abortions to low-income women because they violate the "principle of States' rights and of District home rule."

"President Obama has always supported D.C. home rule," Norton said. "However, today's Statement of Administration Policy demonstrates unequivocally and forcefully that the President recognizes that D.C. has a right to self-government regardless of the underlying policy issue. As for the sponsor of the D.C. marijuana rider, Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) has raised issues about D.C.'s marijuana decriminalization bill that have been addressed by the District, which passed decriminalization because a marijuana drug conviction has seriously compromised the lives of countless African Americans in the city. The President's position is consistent with local control of local government, while Rep. Harris' amendment violates his own support for the same principle. The President's support will be indispensable in keeping the marijuana and abortion riders out of the final D.C. Appropriations bill."

The SAP also "urges the Congress to adopt" the provisions in the President's fiscal year 2015 budget that would grant D.C. authority to spend its local funds without congressional approval and set its own fiscal year (budget autonomy), as well as permit D.C. legislation to take effect upon passage by the D.C. government (legislative autonomy). The House's D.C. Appropriations bill does not include these provisions, but it does include a provision that would keep the District government open in the event of a federal government shutdown in fiscal year 2016. The enacted fiscal year 2014 D.C. Appropriations bill prevents a D.C. government shutdown in fiscal year 2015.

The District's marijuana decriminalization bill has been under attack since it was transmitted to Congress for review. In May, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee's Subcommittee on Government Operations, chaired by Representative John Mica (R-FL), singled out the District's bill for a hearing. Later that day, Representative John Fleming (R-LA) indicated to Roll Call that he would introduce a resolution of disapproval to block the law from taking effect. Last week, the House Appropriations Committee passed the fiscal year 2015 D.C. Appropriations bill, which contains a rider that would prohibit D.C. from using its local funds to decriminalize or legalize marijuana. The D.C. marijuana rider was offered as an amendment in the Appropriations Committee by Representative Andy Harris (R-MD), a tea party supporter. Harris sponsored the amendment despite the fact that his own state of Maryland has decriminalized marijuana. The congressional review period for the bill is expected to end this week.

The city's local officials passed the marijuana decriminalization legislation largely to combat racial injustice. A 2013 study by the American Civil Liberties Union of the Nation's Capital found that, in the District of Columbia, where about half the residents are Black, Blacks are eight times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than non-Blacks, and in 2010 91% of all marijuana arrests in D.C. were of Blacks. Twenty-three states have legalized medical marijuana, 18 states have decriminalized marijuana, and two states have legalized marijuana. A February 2014 Pew Research Center poll found that 54% of Americans support marijuana legalization.

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