Between Budget Votes, Legislative Meeting is Brief and Low-Key

With the Council’s initial budget vote behind it, and final budget votes yet to come, the Legislative Meeting that fell between those two votes rated high for speed, and low for controversy.

Two pieces of legislation received their second required vote, and were sent to Mayor Muriel Bowser for her signature. One requires mandatory pulse oximetry tests on all newborns, to help detect congenital heart defects. The other requires health insurers to provide a year’s worth of prescribed contraceptives at one time.

Receiving emergency votes at the meeting were bills that would prevent power companies from turning off electricity to those with unpaid bills during official heat emergencies, tightening requirements on what constitutes a purchase offer under the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA), and extending the Council review period of the Southwest Neighborhood Plan by 45 days.

Only requiring a single vote at the meeting were a Sense of the Council resolution supporting improvement of the District’s inclusionary zoning program, and a second resolution that provided the Council’s newest members with their committee assignments.  Councilmember LaRuby May will join the Health and Human Services, Housing and Community Development, and Judiciary Committees. Councilmember Brandon Todd will join the Business, Consumer, and Regulatory Affairs Committee, the Education Committee, and the Transportation and Environment Committee.

A second vote on the Budget Request Act (a first-ever occurrence since Home Rule, triggered by last week’s DC Budget Autonomy court ruling) is scheduled for June 10.  The long-required second vote on the Budget Support Act is scheduled for June 16.

For a full list of all actions taken at today’s meeting, click here.