March 15, 2006- Third Bill in Free and Equal D.C. Series Would Remove Federal Processing

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 15, 2006

Third Bill in Free and Equal D.C. Series Would
Remove Federal Processing of Local Hatch Act Provisions

Washington, DC--Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), along with Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis (R-VA), today introduced the District of Columbia Reform Hatch Act of 2006 to eliminate discriminatory treatment of local violations under the federal Hatch Act that Norton believes the House no longer intends. The House recognized that the present federal Hatch Act jurisdiction over local D.C. violations was obsolete by removing federal responsibility several years ago, but the Senate failed to act accordingly. D.C. is the only local jurisdiction that is treated as if it were a federal agency under the Hatch Act, a pre-Home Rule holdover that was not needed after the passage of the Home Rule Act. The Office of Personnel Management and its Special Counsel still spend time and federal resources on investigation, fact-finding and judgment of unfamiliar local violations. “This treatment is a dual indignity – denigration of local government at the unnecessary expense of the federal government,” Norton said.

The bill is the third in Norton’s “Free and Equal D.C.” series that seeks to eliminate anti-Home Rule or redundant bills that deprive the city of equal treatment and recognition as an independent self-governing jurisdiction. The first in the series, H.R. 1629, the D.C. Budget Autonomy Act of 2005 was filed last year, and is sponsored by Norton and Davis. Last week, the Congresswoman introduced the second bill, H.R. 4926, the District of Columbia Legislative Autonomy Act. Norton is seeking enactment of all three bills this year.

Norton’s bill would retain federal Hatch Act authority concerning prohibited partisan and political activity that applies to every state because of the receipt of federal funds, but would remove the District from federal Hatch Act jurisdiction for local violations unrelated to federal requirements. The new act would require the District to enact its own local Hatch Act, like every other jurisdiction, before Norton’s bill becomes effective. Local Hatch Act violations in the District are rare, but Norton said that the District needs its own Hatch Act authority to fully account and be responsible for local violations with which only a local objective body would be familiar.