Norton Says House D.C. Appropriations Bill Mostly Unchanged, Prepares for Riders
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said the House's draft fiscal year 2016 District of Columbia Appropriations bill, released today, is mostly unchanged from the House's draft bill last year, but that she is prepared, like last year, for a fierce fight in committee and on the House floor to defend D.C.'s right to self-government. Her major funding goal is to restore full funding for the D.C. Tuition Assistance Grant Program (DCTAG), which, like last year in the House, is funded below the current level, but Norton was able to get it restored in the Democratic Senate. There is some good news in the bill, particularly the preservation of the D.C. budget autonomy referendum, no new means testing for DCTAG, an exemption for the D.C. government from shutdowns in fiscal year 2017, and funding for several Norton priorities. The Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee will mark up the bill at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow, Thursday, June 11, 2015, in 2358-B Rayburn House Office Building.
"With a Republican House majority, the bill is what we expected," Norton said. "However, this Congress, Republicans in the House and Senate have attacked D.C. home rule more than we have seen in decades, so we are preparing for multiple attacks as the bill goes to the full committee and then the floor. I will say again: We will force a floor vote on each and every anti-home-rule rider. No member will get a free pass for undermining democracy in D.C."
The bill provides $20 million for DCTAG, a $10 million cut from the fiscal year 2015 enacted level and a $20 million cut from the President's fiscal year 2016 budget request. The Congresswoman said she is grateful that, unlike the president's budget request, the bill, like last year, does not impose any new means testing on DCTAG.
Norton said she was elated by the provision in the bill that prevents the District government from shutting down if the federal government shuts down in fiscal year 2017. She got the same provision enacted into law for fiscal years 2015 and 2016, which, for the first time ever, removed the threat of a D.C. government shutdown for an entire fiscal year. The bill has more good news in not overturning the budget autonomy referendum, approved by D.C. voters in 2013. Norton is committed to preventing any efforts by Congress to block or overturn the budget autonomy referendum.
Norton also is grateful that the bill continues to provide an extra $5 million to combat HIV/AIDS in D.C., one of her major priorities as the city's HIV/AIDS rate continues to decrease, the same amount as the fiscal year 2015 enacted level and as the President's fiscal year 2016 budget request, and $435,000 for the Major General David F. Wherley, Jr. District of Columbia National Guard Retention and College Access Program for tuition for D.C. National Guard soldiers, which is the same amount as the fiscal year 2015 enacted level and as the president's budget request.
Norton will make every effort to restore funding for the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water) for ongoing work to fix D.C.'s federally constructed sewer system and clean up the Anacostia and Potomac rivers and Rock Creek. The bill zeroes out the entire enacted fiscal year 2015 level of $14 million and the President's fiscal year 2016 budget request of $24.3 million at a time when flooding in D.C. shows the urgency of redoubling efforts and funding for DC Water. The bill provides $15 million each for D.C. public schools and public charter schools, the same amount as the fiscal year 2015 enacted level and $5 million below the president's request for each.
Norton said that while she is pleased the bill does not contain any new anti-home-rule riders, she and her allies will need to fight hard to remove the riders that prohibit D.C. from using its fiscal year 2016 local funds on abortion services for low-income women and on legalizing the sale of marijuana, as well as to be vigilant against new riders as the bill moves forward.