Congress appears to have learned one lesson from last year’s government shutdown: Don’t drag down the District of Columbia with everything else.
A comprehensive spending bill set to pass later this week inoculates the District government from shutdowns through September 2015. The language was inserted to protect DC residents from situations similar to the shutdowns in 1995 and 1996, when many city services were suspended along with federal operations. Because the District’s budget is ultimately subject to Congress’s appropriations process, a lapse in the federal budget can lead to a local shutdown, too.
Those circumstances were avoided last October when Mayor Vince Gray declared all 32,000 city employees “essential” personnel and tapped an emergency reserve fund to make payroll. The District’s situation received national attention about halfway through the 16-day shutdown when Gray confronted Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, on the steps of the Capitol.
The message seems to have taken hold. A draft of an omnibus spending bill in the House this week permits the District to spend its own money through the end of the 2015 fiscal year even if Congress fails to pass an appropriations bill. The bill funds the federal government through the end of the 2014 fiscal year on September 30.
“This guaranteed stability is a victory for the DC economy and our residents, and a significant step forward in our fight for full home rule and budget autonomy,” Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton said in a press release yesterday.
While the Senate’s version of the spending bill includes specific language about permanent budget autonomy, the House’s draft omits it.
Budget Deal Would Protect DC From Future Shutdowns
Congress appears to have learned one lesson from last year’s government shutdown: Don’t drag down the District of Columbia with everything else.
A comprehensive spending bill set to pass later this week inoculates the District government from shutdowns through September 2015. The language was inserted to protect DC residents from situations similar to the shutdowns in 1995 and 1996, when many city services were suspended along with federal operations. Because the District’s budget is ultimately subject to Congress’s appropriations process, a lapse in the federal budget can lead to a local shutdown, too.
Those circumstances were avoided last October when Mayor Vince Gray declared all 32,000 city employees “essential” personnel and tapped an emergency reserve fund to make payroll. The District’s situation received national attention about halfway through the 16-day shutdown when Gray confronted Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, on the steps of the Capitol.
The message seems to have taken hold. A draft of an omnibus spending bill in the House this week permits the District to spend its own money through the end of the 2015 fiscal year even if Congress fails to pass an appropriations bill. The bill funds the federal government through the end of the 2014 fiscal year on September 30.
“This guaranteed stability is a victory for the DC economy and our residents, and a significant step forward in our fight for full home rule and budget autonomy,” Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton said in a press release yesterday.
While the Senate’s version of the spending bill includes specific language about permanent budget autonomy, the House’s draft omits it.
Must-Reads
Take Our Restaurant Survey and You Could Win Dinner at a Mike Isabella Restaurant
10 Fall Festivals Near DC That You Don’t Want to Miss
Washingtonian’s Great Places to Work Application
DC is Getting an All-Male Burlesque Brunch
September 2016: How to Dress in DC
More from News & Politics
The Huffington Post’s Eliot Nelson Doesn’t Mind if You Read His Book on the Toilet
Man Stabbed Over Drunk Food in a Crime Most DC
Presidential Debates Aren’t About Style or Substance. They’re About Pressure
Do Women Have to Talk Like Men to Be Taken Seriously? And Should They?
Photos and Scenes From the African American History Museum’s Opening Day
How History Museums Around the US Have Presented the African American Experience
Frederick Could Be an Urban Suburb of DC–Unless Its Good Ol’ Boy Past Gets in Its Way
Road Closures, Traffic Detours, and Security Information for the African American History Museum Opening
Most Popular
The Best Cheap Restaurants in Washington, DC
100 Very Best Restaurants
9 New Restaurants to Try Now
How One Couple Transformed a Virginia Estate into the Ultimate Southern Lawn Party Wedding
I Was at the Montgomery Mall During the Shooting. This Is What It Was Like Inside.