Norton Thanks White House for Issuing Veto Threat on Bill to Repeal D.C. Budget Autonomy Referendum, Bill Going to House Floor Tomorrow

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today expressed her appreciation to the Obama administration for issuing a Statement of Administration Policy (SAP) strongly opposing H.R. 5233, a bill to repeal the Local Budget Autonomy Amendment Act of 2012 (BAA), a referendum ratified overwhelmingly by District of Columbia voters in 2013 that granted the District budget autonomy. The bill will go to the House floor for a vote tomorrow. The SAP, which said the president’s senior advisors would recommend that he veto the bill, said, “The Administration is disappointed that the Congress has failed to provide elected leaders in the Nation's capital the most basic authority to spend local tax collections without congressional approval, an authority held by local officials across the Nation. Subjecting the District to the lengthy and uncertain congressional appropriations process for its use of local tax collections imposes both operational and financial hardships on the District, burdens not borne by any other local government in the country. The residents of the District and their elected leaders deserve to have the same ability as other U.S. residents and elected leaders to determine how to use their local revenues to address their unique needs. Such authority is fundamental to a well-functioning democracy, and the Congress denying the District this authority is an affront to the residents and elected leaders of the District.”

After speaking with members of the administration, Norton said, “I am enormously grateful to the White House for strongly supporting D.C. home rule and condemning this latest effort by House Republicans to trample on the will of our voters. Budget autonomy has tremendous benefits for the District’s finances and daily operations, and Congress would lose nothing. The White House’s veto threat will give us momentum as we battle to keep the repeal bill from moving in the Senate or being attached to an omnibus later this year.”