Norton Says President Biden’s 2024 Budget Includes Many Victories for D.C.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said today that President Biden's fiscal year 2024 budget includes several significant victories for the District of Columbia that she requested, including:

• Increases the maximum annual award and lifetime cap for the D.C. Tuition Assistance Grant Program (DCTAG). The budget proposal would increase the maximum annual award from $10,000 to $15,000 and would increase the lifetime cap 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.
• $600,000 for the Major General David F. Wherley, Jr. District of Columbia National Guard Retention and College Access Program.
• $5 million for HIV/AIDS testing, treatment and prevention in D.C.
• $48 million for the Emergency Planning and Security Fund (EPSF), which pays for the increased cost of emergency and security planning related to the federal presence in D.C.
• Removes the abortion rider on D.C.’s budget that currently prohibits D.C. from using local funds on abortion services for low-income women.
• Exempts the D.C. government from a federal government shutdown in FY 2024. Norton has gotten D.C. exempted from federal government shutdowns on an annual basis since the federal government shut down in 2013.
• $193.4 million for the General Services Administration’s portion for the Department of Homeland Security headquarters consolidation at St. Elizabeths.
• $8 million for D.C. Water.
• $93 million for the construction of Howard University Hospital.
• Lifts the restrictions that prevent Howard University from accessing the Historically Black College & University (HBCU) Capital Financing 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.”

However, Norton said she was disappointed that the budget maintains the rider that prohibits D.C. from spending its local funds on recreational marijuana commercialization despite her efforts meeting with senior administration officials and advocating for its removal.

“I have a hard time reconciling the administration's strong support for D.C. statehood, which would give D.C. not only voting representation in Congress but also full local self-government, with a budget that prohibits D.C. from spending its local funds on recreational marijuana commercialization,” Norton said.

“I am pleased that the budget does not include the abortion rider, which currently bars D.C. from spending its local funds on abortions for low-income women. This significant win matters deeply to the people of D.C., particularly after the Dobbs decision has threatened D.C. residents’ continued ability to receive full reproductive healthcare.”

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