Norton Statement on Markup & Committee Passage of D.C. Appropriations Bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. - After the House Committee on Appropriations yesterday marked up and passed the Financial Services and General Government (FSSG) bill, which includes the D.C. appropriations bill, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said that although she was pleased no new riders were attached to the bill, she was still outraged at the number and scope of anti-home rule riders included in the base text that still remain in the bill. Republicans attempt to attach the riders to the annual D.C. spending bill to exert control over local D.C. matters, despite their positions as federal officials who do not represent D.C. residents.

Significantly, the bill would cut funding for D.C. Tuition and Grant Assistance (DCTAG), a program established by a bill Norton got passed in 1999, by 50%. DCTAG makes up the difference for D.C. residents between in-state and out-of-state tuition up to $15,000 a year at public institutions of higher education in the U.S.

"Although I am unsurprised at the number and scope of anti-D.C. home rule riders in the D.C. appropriations bill as passed out of Committee, I continue to be outraged at the entitlement shown by members of Congress who represent far-away districts yet think it's appropriate to impose their policy preferences on 700,000 D.C. residents," Norton said. "By loading this legislation with anti-home-rule riders, from stripping away reproductive healthcare access to meddling in our local public safety and education laws, Republican members are dictating how D.C. residents live, spend their own local tax dollars, and govern themselves.

"These members were not elected by D.C. residents, yet they continue to treat the District like their own playground to rule as they please. This bill should serve as a stark reminder of why D.C. statehood is not just a political goal, but a moral imperative to end this ongoing cycle of paternalism and disenfranchisement.

"D.C. residents are worthy and capable of governing themselves. Congress must pass my D.C. statehood bill."

As passed out of Committee, the bill would:

• Permit anyone with a concealed carry permit from any state or territory to carry a concealed handgun in D.C. and on WMATA.
• Provide $20 million for the D.C. Tuition Assistance Grant Program (DCTAG), a 50% decrease from the current funding level.
• Prohibit D.C. from spending its own local funds on abortion services for low-income women.
• Prohibit D.C. from using local funds to carry out its Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Amendment Act of 2014.
• Repeal D.C.'s Death with Dignity Act, and prohibit enacting any similar law.
• Require D.C. to submit a report on its enforcement of the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act.
• Prohibit D.C. from spending its own local funds to enforce its vehicle emission standards.
• Prohibit D.C. from using local funds to carry out its automated traffic enforcement law.
• Prohibit D.C. from using its local funds to enact or carry out any law which prohibits motorists from making right turns on red.
• Repeal the provision of D.C.'s Anti-Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation law, or Anti-SLAPP law, that exempts from that law any claim brought by the D.C. government.
• Prohibit D.C. from using local funds to implement its law allowing noncitizens to vote in local elections or on activities related to enrolling or registering noncitizens into voter rolls for local elections.
• Prohibit D.C. from using local funds to implement its Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022.
• Repeal parts of the Youth Rehabilitation Amendment Act of 2018 that allows courts to use sentencing alternatives for a person who was sentenced as an adult but was under the age of 24 at the time the person committed a crime, changing that age back to 22.
• Prohibit the use of funds to implement, administer, or enforce any COVID-19 mask or vaccine mandate.
• Prohibit the use of D.C.'s local funds to commercialize recreational marijuana.
• Prohibit the use of D.C.'s local funds to implement the Insurance Regulation Amendment Act of 2024, which relates to reproductive health care and gender-affirming care.
• Prohibit D.C. from using its own funds to implement or enforce provisions of the Consumer Protection Act against oil and gas companies for environmental claims.
• Providing $50 million for the Emergency Planning and Security Fund. The fund pays for the unique public safety and security costs the District incurs as the nation's capital, and is designed to cover the District's costs upfront so D.C. does not need to expend local funds and then seek an appropriation to be reimbursed for such costs after the fact. This is a decrease of $40 million.

Amid the anti-home rule riders are several victories secured by Norton, despite Republican control of the House. The bill maintains the provision to exempt the D.C. government from a federal government shutdown in FY 2027, a provision she has gotten enacted every year since FY 2015. It also approves D.C. to spend under its FY 2027 local budget in the event of a federal government shutdown, avoiding the problem caused when House Republicans left the provision out of last year's continuing resolution, which caused an initially projected $1.1 billion hole in D.C.'s budget in the middle of the fiscal year.

Norton secured the following victories in the bill:

• Exempting D.C. from federal government shutdowns in FY 2027.
• Providing $10 million for D.C. Water Clean Rivers Project, a $2 million increase.
• Providing $600,000 for the Major General David F. Wherley, Jr. District of Columbia National Guard Retention and College Access Program.
• Providing $4 million to combat HIV/AIDS in D.C.

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