08-04-2025
Officials, advocates urge House to pass DC Local Funds Act to restore budget
WASHINGTON () — D.C. residents are pushing members of the House of Representatives to vote on the DC Local Funds Act, which would restore the District's budget.
'We keep telling folks this is not a partisan issue, this is just a humanity issue. It's right versus wrong,' said LaJoy Johnson-Law, who was lobbying representatives at the Cannon Building Monday.
The District's budget has been in limbo since last month, when Congress passed a short-term spending bill that reverted D.C. back to its 2024 fiscal year budget, effectively slashing the budget by $1 billion.
The – which would allow D.C. to continue spending at its 2025 levels – on March 14. However, the House has not yet taken up the legislation.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Proposed federal bill would cut DC budget by roughly $1 billion, city officials say
'What is that going to mean if this money doesn't get unfrozen?' questioned Johnson-Law.
Mayor Muriel Bowser expressed frustration and concern over the House's lack of action.
'I'll be talking to House leadership with a focus on getting a date this week,' she said. 'Getting beyond this week puts us in territory where we have to take more extraordinary moves so that our budget remains balanced.'
Johnson Law and others worry about what those 'extraordinary moves' could look like for D.C. schools.
District officials continue to lobby against 'catastrophic' federal spending plan
'What are our schools going to do? We have a lot of charter schools here. They're waiting on their fourth quarter payments. Some of them could shut down,' she said. '[Are DC Public Schools] going to go to a modified school schedule where children are only in school a few days a week?'
Estimates by D.C. leaders last month showed potentially hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of cuts to various sectors of the government, including education. Police, fire, transportation and more would also be impacted.
The money in limbo is derived from local D.C. taxes, not federal dollars.
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