Legislation Takes Back Center Stage As Council Changes Seasons

At our prior Legislative Meeting, on June 18, attention was paid to the passage of the final piece of major budget legislation for the year.

At our upcoming Legislative Meeting, on July 9, attention will be paid to the low-level rush to push through legislation prior to our impending summer recess.

The just-concluded Legislative Meeting was the meeting that fell between those two. But rest assured, important business was in fact conducted at the most recent meeting.

The legislation approved at this meeting:

  • Authorized the mayor to exercise eminent domain over a trash transfer station on W Street, NE, so that the property can become a site for government storage and warehousing
  • Expanded opportunities for certified business enterprises in the planned multiyear effort to bury overhead electrical lines
  • Exempted noted local business Sankofa Video and Books from real property tax for ten years
  • Re-appointed Sandra Mattavous-Frye for another four-year term as People’s Counsel
  • Accelerated implementation of a provision already included in the budget that would provide a child care and custody subsidy where applicable to family members who are not parents or grandparents
  • Allowed certain time-sensitive elements of the recently-passed Budget Support Act to go into effect prior to October 1
  • Provided for a land disposition necessary for redevelopment of St. Elizabeths East

New legislation was introduced at the most recent Legislative Meeting. If eventually passed, it would:

  • Regulate the electronic scooter market, including the hours the devices can be used, where they can be parked, the size of their fleets, fines to fleet operators, etc.
  • Require that continuing education programs for medical professionals include a nutritional education element
  • Require equal access to changing tables in men’s and women’s rest rooms in all government buildings
  • Provide for cross-cutting improvements in both prenatal and postnatal maternal healthcare
  • Facilitate provision of economic literacy training by nonprofit organizations to homeless individuals
  • Ensure equitable evaluation of DC Public Schools employees regardless of their union status, and ensure employee involvement in the evaluation process
  • Create a new funding category for schools with 70 percent or more at-risk students

One Ceremonial Resolution was presented at the most recent Legislative Meeting. It recognized the short-track speedskating achievements of Nathaniel Casson, a local scholar-athlete born and raised in the District of Columbia.

As indicated earlier, there will be one more Legislative Meeting prior to the Council’s summer recess. It will be held on July 9.

For a full list of all votes taken at the most recent meeting, please click here.