Norton Says District's Independent Action Led to Enactment Today of Local Budget For First Time, Prepares to Defend Budget and Budget Autonomy Referendum in Final Appropriations Bill

Press Release

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) announced that the fiscal year 2017 local budget passed by the District of Columbia Council, pursuant to the budget autonomy referendum, became law today after the 30-day congressional review period expired yesterday and no disapproval resolution was introduced--let alone passed--during that period. While the budget is now law, the city's budget year does not begin until October 1, and D.C. cannot start spending its funds under the budget until then. The District's budget autonomy referendum allowed the D.C. Council this year, for the first time ever, to pass the local portion of the budget and submit it directly to Congress for a review period like all other D.C. legislation. Prior to the referendum, the city had to submit its budget to the President for transmission to Congress for approval, as if it were a federal agency.

Norton said she will focus on keeping Congress from either blocking or overturning the budget or the referendum in any spending bill. This year, the House has passed four separate measures to block D.C. from spending its local funds without congressional approval, but those measures have not passed the Senate. The House passed a stand-alone bill to repeal the budget autonomy referendum and to block D.C. from passing similar legislation in the future. The House-passed fiscal year 2017 D.C. appropriations bill contains the text of the standalone bill, repeals the D.C. Council-passed budget, and preemptively appropriates D.C.'s fiscal year 2017 local funds. The full Senate has not considered any bills related to the referendum or the Council-passed budget. However, the Senate Appropriations Committee-passed fiscal year 2017 D.C. appropriations bill appropriated D.C.'s fiscal year 2017 local funds, preempting D.C.'s local budget.

"Although the District cannot spend its local funds until October 1, the city has succeeded in declaring its fiscal independence from the federal budget process through the budget passed pursuant to budget autonomy, which remains the law of the land," Norton said. "I am in the process of trying to keep the city's historic budget autonomy action intact. For years now, Congress has not held hearings on the D.C. budget and has shown no interest in D.C.'s budget, except to impose anti-home-rule riders, which Congress can continue to do despite budget autonomy and D.C.'s local budget becoming law. All the city is asking for is the same right enjoyed by all other local jurisdictions--control over its own locally-raised funds."

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