Norton Says Biden’s Budget Contains Critical Victories She Requested for D.C.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said that President Biden's fiscal year 2025 budget, released this week, includes several significant victories for the District of Columbia, including, as Norton requested, $40 million for the D.C. Tuition Assistance Grant Program (DCTAG), which a Norton bill created, and an increase in the DCTAG annual and lifetime grants. However, she said she was disappointed that the budget, like the president’s previous budgets, maintains the rider that prohibits D.C. from spending its local funds on recreational marijuana commercialization. D.C. victories in the bill include:

• $40 million in funding for DCTAG, including an increase for the DCTAG annual award from $10,000 to $15,000, and an increase in the lifetime grant from $50,000 to $75,000. DCTAG makes up the difference for D.C. residents between in-state and out-of-state tuition at public institutions of higher education in the United States.
• $97 million for the Emergency Planning & Security Fund, which pays for the increased cost of emergency and security planning related to the federal government’s presence in D.C.
• $70 million for construction of a new Howard University Hospital building.
• $15 million for improvements to Union Station.
• A provision allowing the District to spend its local funds during a federal government shutdown.
• $5 million for HIV/AIDS testing, treatment and prevention in D.C.
• $8 million for DC Water.
• $600,000 for the Major General David F. Wherley, Jr. District of Columbia National Guard Retention and College Access Program.

“I particularly appreciate that the Biden administration recognizes the importance of the DCTAG program for D.C. students and families and has included increases in the annual and lifetime awards,” Norton said. “The cost of college has increased dramatically, but the grants have not kept pace since Congress created the program in 1999. I am also pleased the budget includes my provision exempting the local D.C. government from federal government shutdowns, which I have gotten enacted every year since 2014.”

Norton expressed disappointment that the budget maintains the rider that prohibits D.C. from spending its local funds on recreational marijuana commercialization.

“While I am disappointed the budget again maintains the marijuana rider, I am pleased it does not include the abortion rider, which currently bars D.C. from spending its local funds on abortions for low-income women,” Norton said. “This is particularly important for the residents of the District after the Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade has threatened D.C. residents’ continued ability to receive full reproductive healthcare.”

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