Norton Preserves DCTAG and other Critical D.C. Funding in Senate Appropriations Bill

WASHINGTON, DC -- Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said she was thrilled that the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government's fiscal year 2016 bill, approved today, provides critical funding she requested for the District of Columbia Tuition Assistance Grant Program (DCTAG) and other D.C. priorities, despite significant cuts in the bill's total funding. The bill provides $30 million for DCTAG, the same amount as the fiscal year 2015 enacted level, $10 million above the amount in the House Appropriations Committee-passed bill and $10 million below the amount in the president's fiscal year 2016 request.

"DCTAG is my top D.C. funding priority this year," Norton said. "While we strongly pressed for the full $40 million included in the president's budget for DCTAG, we are grateful that the Republican-led subcommittee understood how indispensable DCTAG is to the more than 5,000 DCTAG students currently in college and to the tax base of the District. I was particularly gratified by DCTAG families, who wrote to members of the committee urging funding for DCTAG, and to the many parents and students who showed up to the markup to demonstrate the importance of DCTAG. Our fight continues, though, for the Senate's $30 million to be included in the final fiscal year 2016 bill. The House level of $20 million is particularly unacceptable. Today, D.C. parents and kids have taken to the streets and to the Congress to demand that DCTAG stipends, still set at a maximum of $10,000 per student, the original amount authorized 16 years ago, be raised to meet years of tuition increases nationwide."

The Senate bill also funds other Norton D.C. priorities. The bill provides an extra $5 million to combat HIV/AIDS in D.C., a special Norton priority, equal to the amount in the House Appropriations Committee-approved bill and the same amount as the fiscal year 2015 enacted level and the president's fiscal year 2015 budget request. Norton said that she was particularly relieved at the $14 million for the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water) for ongoing work to control flooding and clean up the Anacostia and Potomac rivers and Rock Creek, equal to the fiscal year 2015 enacted level but $10 million below the president's fiscal year 2016 request. The Senate amount is gratifying considering that the House Appropriations Committee-approved bill did not provide any funding for DC Water. Norton said that federal funding for DC Water is particularly warranted because the federal government built the system and is a ratepayer for water and sewer services provided to federal facilities, including the Capitol Complex, in the nation's capital.

The subcommittee has released only a summary of its bill, and the remainder of the D.C. provisions in the bill likely will not be known until after the full committee votes on the bill tomorrow.