Norton, Bowser, Mendelson, and Racine Stand United as OGR Prepares to Repeal Budget Autonomy Referendum

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser, D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, and D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine held a press conference today at the John A. Wilson Building expressing their determination to support the District as it proceeds with its local budget without submitting it to the congressional appropriations process despite attempts almost simultaneously by House Republicans today to repeal the Local Budget Autonomy Act of 2012 (BAA), a referendum ratified overwhelmingly by D.C. voters in 2013 and upheld by a D.C. Superior Court judge. The press conference occurred as the D.C. Council held its first vote on the District’s fiscal year 2017 budget. Under the BAA, for the first time ever, the D.C. Council will adopt the local portion of D.C.’s budget and submit it to Congress for a review period as it would any other D.C. bill, rather than having the President submit it to Congress for approval by the House and Senate.

“I come to the Wilson Building, our local city hall, to emphasize that from our nation’s beginnings, the rightful home of a jurisdiction’s local budget can only be the jurisdiction that produces local funds, without the assistance of the federal government,” Norton said. “District officials and I are united in our determination to proceed with carrying out the District of Columbia’s budget referendum, which has been upheld in court and is now the law of the land. As I return to the Hill, I am engaged in several strategies to see that we end congressional approval of our local taxpayer funds in order to lower the District’s borrowing costs and undo the harm done annually to agency operations. I thank Mayor Bowser, Chairman Mendelson, and Attorney General Racine for defending the will of our residents and coordinating their work at the local level with what is transpiring in the House today.”

“Budget autonomy was ratified by voters, upheld in the courts and without a doubt, is the law of the land,” said Bowser. “Today’s markup in the House further undermines the 680,000 residents who pay taxes, go to war, and make significant contributions to our great country. I thank Congresswoman Norton, Chairman Mendelson, and Attorney General Racine for their steadfast commitment to carry out the will of the voters.”

“Having budget autonomy is best practice for the fiscal management of the District,” Mendelson said. “Congress should not want exclusive budget authority over the District because while budget autonomy makes a big difference for the District, it does not make a big difference for Congress.”