Norton Writes to Shore Up DCTAG with Administration, Following Appropriators’ Public Statement Regarding D.C. Council Action

WASHINGTON, DC – Following the District of Columbia Council's preliminary approval of the D.C. Promise bill Tuesday, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today wrote to President Obama to reiterate her earlier request that he provide $35.1 million for the D.C. Tuition Assistance Grant Program (DCTAG) in his fiscal year 2015 budget, as he did in fiscal year 2014. Norton wrote today because of a public statement by appropriators that future funding for DCTAG could be at risk because of the Promise bill. Prior to the Council's passage of the Promise bill on First Reading Tuesday, Norton wrote two memos to the entire Council relaying the appropriators' concerns that the bill could indicate that D.C. can fund its own college access program, as well as federal rules on funding local programs that are similar to federally funded programs.

"Preemptive action is necessary considering that the education of 5,000 DCTAG students now in college is at stake, given threats to the program that the D.C Promise bill may present, according to congressional appropriators," said Norton. "If DCTAG funding is included in the President's budget, we will have a better chance of avoiding cuts. DCTAG survived severe pressure for cuts over the last two years, which saw the largest annual federal cuts in U.S. history, and federal programs are still undergoing annual cuts. My letter is one step to do all we can to keep the administration from getting the same signals from the vote on the Promise bill that the appropriators have indicated they received."

The fiscal year 2014 omnibus appropriations bill, signed by the President last month, maintained the fiscal year 2013 enacted level of $30 million for DCTAG, a positive development considering that the House proposed a 50 percent cut to the program.

Published: February 6, 2014