Norton Statement on House Passage of D.C. Appropriations Bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said that although she was able to get 17 out of 20 anti-D.C. provisions stripped from the fiscal year 2027 (FY 27) D.C. appropriations bill passed by the House last night, the remaining three provisions that impose policies on D.C. without its consent demonstrate the need for D.C. statehood so the 700,000 D.C. residents have the same decision-making power over their own local policies that residents of the states enjoy. 

Norton secured many victories for D.C. in the bill. Importantly, the version passed by the House provides $40 million for the D.C. Tuition Assistance Grant Program (DCTAG), increases the DCTAG annual award from $10,000 to $15,000, and increases the lifetime award from $50,000 to $75,000.

Norton secured the following victories:

• The bill provides $40 million for DCTAG, an increase in the annual DCTAG award from $10,000 to $15,000, and an increase in the lifetime DCTAG award from $50,000 to $75,000.
• The bill would provide $90 million for emergency planning and security costs related to the federal presence in D.C.
• The bill exempts D.C. from federal government shutdowns in FY 2027.
• The bill provides $8 million for D.C. Water for ongoing work to control flooding in D.C. and to clean up the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers and Rock Creek Park.
• The bill provides $4 million to combat HIV/AIDS in D.C.
• The bill provides $600,000 for the Major General David F. Wherley, Jr. District of Columbia National Guard Retention and College Access Program.
• The bill provides $53 million for the D.C. Public Defender Service, an entity established by Congress to represent indigent defendants in criminal cases in the local D.C. courts.
• The bill provides $46 million for the Defender Service, which pays private lawyers to represent indigent clients in both criminal and civil matters in the local D.C. courts.

Norton expressed disappointment that the bill would prohibit the District from spending its own local funds on abortion services for low-income women and on recreational marijuana commercialization. Norton was also disappointed that the bill devotes substantial funding to the private school voucher program that Congress imposed on the District. The program has failed to improve academic achievement, as measured by math and reading test scores. The D.C. voucher program is the only federally funded voucher program in the U.S. 

“While I was able to get 17 of the 20 anti-D.C. provisions that were present in the original House version stripped from this bill and secure major investments for District residents, including a historic increase in D.C. Tuition Assistance Grants, the remaining riders once again impose policies on D.C. without its consent. 

“As long as Congress can override the will of 700,000 D.C. residents on matters as personal and local as reproductive health and local governance, the case for D.C. statehood remains as urgent and undeniable as ever.”

###