CONTACT: Nikki Metzgar, 202-886-5206, nmetzgar@dcfpi.org
WASHINGTON—Today, the Mayor released a piece of her fiscal year (FY) 2023 proposed budget, offering a window into her priorities for the coming fiscal year.
While we await the rest of the budget documents, DC Fiscal Policy Institute Executive Director, Erica Williams, had this initial reaction:
“The Mayor’s proposed budget acknowledges that many DC residents continue to struggle in the fallout of the pandemic by leveraging DC’s growing revenues to make progress towards an equitable recovery.
There remains a huge opportunity gap between the city’s wealthier, largely white, residents and its Black and brown residents, who are disproportionately experiencing hardship. Major investments proposed for ending chronic homelessness, affordable housing production, public housing repair, Black homeownership, and equitable access to health care for immigrants will advance racial justice and help the District keep the promises it made last year to residents struggling the most and meet their urgent needs. As budget details are made available, we look forward to learning more about funding for key priorities such as child care, relief for workers excluded from unemployment benefits, and additional tools to stabilize and preserve housing for DC residents.
We hope the Council will build on the strengths in this proposal to meet the full range of needs across the District and interrogate where dollars could be better spent to foster safe and healthy communities. We also urge all local leaders across our government to ensure our collective investments are well-targeted, effectively implemented with proper oversight, and transparent to the public. DC leaders, in partnership with advocates and communities, can build the District we need and want through the budget— one that eliminates racial and economic disparities in pursuit of an antiracist future. This proposal appears to take a step in that direction.”
DCFPI will provide additional analysis of the budget as documents and details are made available. For more analysis about the previously announced 5.9 percent increase in the base amount of the Uniform Per Student Funding Formula for DC Public Schools, read our latest report.