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Norton Protects Budget Autonomy Referendum, Gets Inauguration Funding for D.C., In Final Continuing Resolution

September 28, 2016

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said she has protected the District of Columbia’s budget autonomy referendum from being overturned in the fiscal year 2017 continuing resolution (CR) to fund the federal government for two months that was passed by the House of Representatives and Senate today. The CR also contains a $19.995 million federal payment to D.C. to cover the costs associated with the upcoming presidential inauguration. Norton pushed to have the $19.995 million federal payment included in the CR so D.C. would not be forced to reallocate and use its local funds to pay for inauguration-related expenses. Since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Norton has been able to get annual federal funding for the city to cover costs for events related to the presence of the federal government in D.C.

“My first priority in this continuing resolution was to protect the District’s historic budget autonomy referendum in the face of incessant attempts by House Republicans to overturn it,” Norton said. “With the referendum still alive, I grow optimistic about getting it recognized in the year-end spending bill that will be negotiated in the lame-duck session. I am also grateful that the CR contains my request for federal funding that will enable D.C. to begin preparing to host the 2017 presidential inauguration.”

The CR appropriates D.C.’s fiscal year 2017 local funds for the duration of the CR (October 1-December 9), likely superseding D.C.’s locally-passed budget for that period, but Norton will continue to fight to have the budget autonomy referendum recognized in the final year-end spending bill. Pursuant to the budget autonomy referendum, for the first time since the Home Rule Act of 1973, the local budget passed by the D.C. Council became law this year without congressional approval, after a 30-day congressional review period. While the Council-passed fiscal year 2017 local budget became law in July, the city’s fiscal year, like the federal fiscal year, does not begin until October 1, and D.C. cannot expend funds under the budget until then. Since federal law is supreme to state and local law, the CR likely supersedes the Council-passed local budget until December 9.