D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton praised President Biden’s 2025 fiscal year budget for its victories for the District.
In the budget, the District got $40 million for the D.C. Tuition Assistance Grant Program, a Norton creation, and an increase in the DCTAG annual and lifetime grants. Other wins include $97 million for the Emergency Planning & Security Fund which pays for the emergency and security related to the federal government’s presence in the city; $70 million for construction of a new Howard University Hospital building; $15 million for improvements to Union Station; a provision allowed the District to spend its local funds during a federal government shutdown; $5 million for HIV/AIDS testing, treatment and prevention in the District; $8 million for DC Water; and $600,000 for the Major General David F. Whaley Jr. District of Columbia National Guard Retention and College Access Program.
However, Norton expressed disappointment with some aspects of the budget. She didn’t like that the budget maintains the rider that prohibits the city from spending its local funds on recreational marijuana commercialization.
“While I am disappointed the budget again maintains the marijuana rider, I am pleased it does not include the abortion rider, which currently bars D.C. from spending its local funds on abortions on low-income women,” Norton said. “This is particularly important for the residents of the District after the Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade has threatened D.C. residents’ continued ability to receive full reproductive healthcare.”