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Let's recap what's going on with the budget right now
2 weeks ago, Chairman Mendelson proposed (at 6PM the night before the vote) an advertising tax that raised about $18M in revenue. He then dispersed the funds around into various programs. #JustRecoveryDC
2 weeks ago, Chairman Mendelson proposed (at 6PM the night before the vote) an advertising tax that raised about $18M in revenue. He then dispersed the funds around into various programs. #JustRecoveryDC
Over the last 2 weeks, Council heard opposition to that tax. We assume they also heard support for the programs it funded and many pleas to increase funding for vital programs, but increasing funding rarely gets the level of feedback that increasing a tax gets.
(The structure/existence of the ad tax wasn’t on the agenda today (will be next week), just where/whether they spend those funds. Mendelson could have reversed that order. He chose, as the chair of the Committee, to agendize the budget in this order.)
What was on the table today was an amendment to reduce funding for certain programs to allow for later changes to the advertising tax proposal. The Council had a debate about the impact of those cuts and, inevitably, about the ad tax itself.
At which point, instead of taking a vote on the amendment, the Chairman suggested that they table the budget entirely, recess and come up with a new list of $18 million in cuts, starting with the enhancements the Council made to the budget.
Chairman Mendelson is proposing negotiating a package of cuts to programs including eviction prevention, affordable housing, child behavioral health, excluded worker income support, childcare, etc. behind closed doors, with no accountability, transparency, or input from residents
Why is it that Councilmembers will reopen the entire budget to undo an ad tax but won’t reopen it to figure out how to fund literal lifesaving services for District residents, like hotels and housing to protect people from COVID-19? https://thedcline.org/2020/07/20/amber-harding-with-upcoming-budget-vote-dc-leaders-must-change-course-to-ease-humanitarian-crisis/?fbclid=IwAR3snfbIlySXlmPFvTMkAieUISKpxMs6htv-q2Wkf-mWgaaAh0NT67JrCSk
Tell the DC Council that cuts to programs that serve low-income DC residents shouldn’t be on the table at all. If they are going to reopen the budget & re-examine their priorities, it should be to meet the basic needs of DC residents. Take action here: https://jufj.org/no-backroom-cuts/
Council recessed until Thursday at 1230. Plenty of time to send the email action above or make some good 'ole fashioned calls: http://dccouncil.us/councilmembers
