Response to Activity on the Hill and DC Budget Fix Passing the Senate

Dear neighbors,

It is a day to be proud to be a resident of the District of Columbia.

Last weekend, the House circulated a draft Continuing Resolution (CR) that would have unnecessarily and irrationally called for $1.1 billion dollars in spending cuts over the next six months. Under the House rubric, the District would have had to furlough teachers, firefighters, police, sanitation workers among others all of which would have been paid for using local dollars that would have been parked because of the federal constraint.

The District government and civic groups swung into action in an urgent effort to turn this around with the Mayor and Council working in close coordination, and hundreds, if not thousands, of residents also swinging into action to avert the possible trainwreck.

Today, the House Continuing Resolution passed the Senate, but the Senate also passed a bill put forward by Senator Collins of Maine that will, if passed by the House, fix the issue relating to the District of Columbia budget.  We are not out of the woods yet, we need to get that bill passed in the House and advocacy will continue until that happens, but there is reason to be cautiously optimistic.

I want to thank the Senator Van Hollen and Senator Alsobrooks of Maryland, as well as Senator Warner and Senator Kaine of Virginia, and all the Senators who heard and supported the voices of the District of Columbia through this process.

Our District team did a great job of educating folks on the Hill, many of whom on Monday morning had no idea what the ramifications of the House proposed CR would be for the District, and by Friday, the Senate got it and moved to fix it by voice vote.

It is going to be a journey navigating the next several years. But today was a good day.

Indeed, it was a good day for a second reason. After visiting the Senate this morning to advocate on the CR issue, I went to Gallaudet University for a job fair the District organized for workers recently impacted by job loss, including federal workers.  Many DC agencies and businesses were there, all looking for talent and trying to help address a very challenging time for many of our residents.

It is a terrible shame that we have to deal with these issues, but I am proud of the way the DC government and residents have rallied to protect the interests of the District and its residents.

Today’s vote in the Senate and the job fair were two small victories.  We still need to bring the Senate fix home in the House, and there are going to be many, many other challenges.  But we were effective this week because of the way in which we tackled the issues together and that bodes well for the challenges to come.

Matt Frumin

Ward 3 Councilmember