Last Wednesday, a coalition of labor, housing, religious and community associations and nonprofits launched a campaign to preserve important public services as the incoming Mayor and Council dig out of the latest budget crisis. Better Choices: Moving DC Forward held a press conference prior to Mayor-Elect Gray’s Ward 6 town hall meeting at the Atlas Performing Arts Center. The campaign’s launch was covered by the Washington Post and the Washington Business Journal.
While some believe that the city’s $175 million budget shortfall can be resolved solely through additional budget cuts, as Mayor-Elect Gray stated this fall, “We have not only cut to the bone, we are down to the bone marrow.” A cuts-only approach would threaten important investments the city has made in schools, libraries, recreation centers, and health care, and it would devastate the city’s ability to address the sharp increase in child poverty in DC. Such an approach would likely mean that the effects of this recession on DC residents would be felt even after the recession ends, hampering the city’s recovery and long-term economic growth.
Better Choices: Moving DC Forward is advocating a balanced approach to closing the budget gap, including new revenues. Better choices would keep our city moving forward and keep families economically secure in uncertain times.
A balanced approach to maintaining services and meeting growing needs could include:
- Increasing the income tax rate on the wealthiest. DC residents earning $40,000 pay the same marginal tax rate as those making $1 million. Raising the rate on income above $200,000 would bring in millions of dollars and affect less than 5 percent of DC households. For many, the increase would be no more than the cost of a cup of coffee a day.
- Ending DC’s tax exemption for interest paid on out-of-state bonds. Only DC and Indiana provide income tax breaks for residents that invest in other states’ infrastructure. Eliminating this exemption would raise needed revenue and help give District residents an incentive to invest in DC’s roads and bridges, rather than in other states’ projects.
The District’s future is in the balance. We need to meet people’s needs today and invest in a secure tomorrow.
