Council's Burst of Legislative Activity Builds Towards Year-end Conclusion • Council of the District of Columbia

While everyone obsesses over their Spotify Wrapped year-end music listening statistical summary, the Council was crafting its own playlist for its second-to-last Legislative Meeting of the two-year Council Period.

First: “The Final Countdown” (by Europe), since the Council’s legislative clock is counting down to the end of Council Period 25 at noon on January 2. Second: “It’s Now or Never” (by Elvis Presley), because any legislation that does not receive final Council consideration prior to that date has to start over the legislative process in Council Period 26. And third: “It Takes Two” (depending on your vibe, either DC’s own Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston, or possibly Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock), because permanent Council legislation only becomes law if it is voted on at two different Legislative Meetings. So, although there is still one Legislative Meeting still to come (on December 17), unless a still-pending bill got votes at both the most recent penultimate meeting, as well as the upcoming ultimate one, it would wither on the vine and have to start over essentially from scratch next year.

One measure that attracted much discussion at the meeting fell outside this two-vote requirement. The Council approved an emergency measure that provided bars and restaurants that serve alcohol (as well as non-liquor serving restaurants that stay open after 3AM) with an exemption from the requirement, coming into effect on January 1, that all District businesses accept cash payments. The emergency measure, which requires a single supermajority vote, will remain in effect for 90 days. A temporary version of the bill (which would be in affect for 225 days) was also passed in the first of two needed votes. For the terms of the legislation to extend any further, a permanent version of the bill would need to be introduced in the new Council Period beginning January 2.

In debating the bill, Councilmembers attempted to balance critical realities regarding paying for goods in 2024: the increased availability of cash-free technological means of payment, greatly reduced use of cash in general, the perceived risk of crime associated with cash businesses, the still significant numbers of people of color who are un-banked or under-banked, and the equity impact of cash bans by businesses.

In other business, on the first of two needed votes, the Council voted:

To strengthen the prohibition of fraudulent, stolen, or obscured temporary or permanent license plates; to allow for immediate towing and impoundment of vehicles with missing, fake, or 60-day expired temporary tags; to prosecute producers of fake tags under District forgery laws, and to prioritize enforcement on all these fronts.
In the interest of safer streets, to authorize the Department of For-Hire Vehicles to regulate and enforce traffic laws against third party food and parcel delivery vehicles; to require that drivers register with their delivery employer, to require the wearing of “trade dress” by such drivers, to study potential vehicle insurance requirements for such drivers, and to provide data on deliveries for analysis on their impact
To improve the resources made available by the Department of Corrections to pregnant and postpartum individuals who are in custody. The Department would be required to provide a minimum standard of care, after hearing testimony revealed deeply substandard current practices in corrections facilities.
To change the age of consent for marriage in the District of Columbia to 18 with no exceptions. Current law allows for those age 16 or 17 to marry with parental approval. While the number of marriages by underage individuals have been low, they increased recently, possibly because the states surrounding the District recently banned underage marriage. Through the passage of this bill, the hope is to avoid the District becoming a haven for the practice.
To accelerate the development of popular pedestrianized streets and plazas through the creation of a plaza program in the Department of Transportation, and to create a facilitated and expedited process for government approval of block parties and related event-based temporary street closures.
To create a youth mentorship program for at-risk youth, and to provide for community service leave for District government employees who tutor or mentor students.
To regulate amplified sound in the public space through licensure for amplified sound devices on public space, and clear enforcement authority through the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection (and not law enforcement)
To require residential property owners to provide a minimum quantity of solid waste container space per resident, and to require a minimum of twice-weekly trash pickup.
To limit the fees a landlord can charge a tenant for owning a pet, to ban landlord restrictions on breed/size of pets, and to require homeless shelters to provide access to unhoused individuals with pets.

As indicated earlier, permanent Council legislation needs to receive two affirmative votes prior to becoming law. While legislation transferring ownership and funding the redevelopment of Capital One Arena had received one such vote, the planned second vote on the measure will not come until our December 17 meeting. However, with a pending administrative deadline with the National Basketball Association falling prior to that date, the Council approved emergency legislation consistent with the in-progress permanent version of the measure. An oral amendment striking the phrase “notwithstanding any other provision of law” from the grant of authority to the mayor to enact the bill was approved by voice vote.

While an effort to provide District election workers with heightened protection from violence did not proceed as an emergency measure, it is thought the bill will return as permanent legislation in the new Council Period.

It was thought that the second of two needed votes would occur on the Recidivism Reduction, Oversight, and Accountability for the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services Act, at the most recent meeting. But with hope of finding common ground with the Executive, and facing a potential veto threat, the second vote was postponed until December 17.

And proving that time is a flat circle, while this Council Period is coming to an end, the next budget cycle is just beginning. The Council approved its FY 2026 Budget Submission Requirements Resolution, which lays out both the deadline and the documentation required of the Executive in providing a proposed budget to the Council. This year’s April 2 deadline is two weeks later than it has been in recent years, which means there is no wiggle room in the case of a delayed submission, as was the case earlier this year.

As indicated above, just one more Legislative Meeting remains in the present two-year Council Period ending on January 2. That meeting is scheduled for December 17.