Longstanding Norton-Negotiated Agreement Means Costs of Recent D.C. Demonstrations Picked Up by Federal Government

Reports on the cost to the District of Columbia of providing public safety at marches and demonstrations here on racial profiling in law enforcement nationwide have not noted that Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), at least since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, has secured annual federal payments for the costs to the city of emergency planning and security related to the presence of the nation's capital in D.C., where protests are often held, including $12.5 million for this fiscal year and any unexpended funds from prior fiscal years. Initially, the District had to seek federal reimbursement for such costs each year, but, beginning in the fiscal year of 2009, Norton convinced appropriators to allow what had been annual cost-reimbursement to be converted to an upfront annual payment so that D.C. no longer had to expend its local funds to cover costs related to federal protests and demonstrations in the nation's capital.