Unless the US House takes action, DC will be forced to cut $1 billion from its current budget, in an attack on residents’ fundamental right to self-govern. Last week, the US House and Senate approved a continuing resolution (CR) on federal appropriations requiring DC to revert to last year’s spending levels midway into its current fiscal year (FY) 2025 budget. A spending cut of this size would lead to wide-ranging cuts to public safety, schools, and other critical programs, and layoffs of DC government workers.
However, to correct this extreme act of federal interference, the US Senate approved a bipartisan bill, the “District of Columbia Local Funds Act, 2025” (the Act), sponsored by Sen. Collins (ME-R), that would undo the $1 billion cut in the CR. US House leadership has not yet scheduled the Act for a vote, but they should swiftly approve the measure without any changes and send it to the White House for final approval.
The more than 700,000 residents of DC deserve control over locally raised tax dollars. The Senate approved the DC fix with unanimous bi-partisan approval, and the White House is on record for supporting the fix. DC’s local leaders are also unanimously opposed to the CR and support the Act to safeguard DC’s budget. The US House should follow suit and pass the bill next week.
Below are key points that address five common misunderstandings about safeguarding DC’s locally financed budget:
- The federal government won’t save a single penny from forcing DC budget cuts because these are all local tax dollars. Forcing the District government to reduce its local budget by $1 billion would not affect federal funds. This means that the federal government will not save a penny by blocking Sen. Collin’s legislation. In fact, on the Senate floor during the debate, Sen. Collins said that the Congressional Budget Office confirmed that her bill “does not have any budgetary cost to the federal government.” Local revenues primarily come from income, sales, and property taxes that DC residents and businesses pay, and we and our local elected officials should decide how to spend these resources.
- Reversing the federally-forced DC budget cuts won’t increase DC spending beyond what Congress already approved. Just like safeguarding DC’s budget won’t save Congress a penny, Sen. Collin’s bill also won’t increase DC spending. DC’s FY 2025 budget has been in place since October, officially enacted after its annual congressional review process. The Act would merely allow DC to continue spending at already-approved levels. If forced to make $1 billion in cuts, those DC funds would become dormant and sit unspent in the District’s coffers absent further action. The funds would neither transfer to the federal budget—which is distinct from DC’s budget—nor necessarily reduce future year budgets since these are DC taxpayer dollars and DC budgets on a four-year financial plan, already approved by Congress. Sen. Collin’s bill merely rights a wrong and at zero cost to the federal government.
- The cuts that the CR requires would do much more than “trim” the DC budget, with very harmful effects. The harm from sudden, deep cuts to child care, housing, firefighters, schools, libraries and more will affect residents who call DC home but also Congressional staffers, tourists, and small business owners. The cuts would disproportionately fall on Black and brown people who have the fewest resources to navigate the harm because of systemic racism. Another ripple effect is that lowering the operating budget by $1 billion would automatically lead to a $600 million cut to the capital financial plan, which funds essential infrastructure projects. And, because DC residents have no voting representation in Congress, residents are stripped of the right to hold accountable elected officials responsible for the spending cut.
- Forcing DC to cut its budget is a dramatic departure from decades of practice, whereby Congress has routinely allowed DC to set its budget. For more than 20 years, Congress has allowed DC to spend its local dollars at current budget levels without disruption under continuing resolutions. And since 2013, Congress has also exempted DC from government shutdowns, allowing the District to keep spending its own local revenue and maintain critical services if the federal budget is behind schedule. The CR ignored both precedents
- DC has proven itself fiscally responsible—as evidenced by clean audits, balanced budgets, and stellar credit ratings—and curbing our spending is unwarranted. DC is not facing a budget deficit and passed a balanced budget for FY 2025. It has 28 consecutive years of clean audits and credit ratings that are amongst the highest of any state or local government in the country. DC balances its budget and has substantial reserves—a best practice for states. Above and beyond best practice for states, the District budgets for a four-year financial plan that requires ongoing spending commitments be paid for over the full span of the plan.
