The Senate will soon vote on a disapproval resolution that, if passed, will throw the current tax season out of whack while nullifying the child tax credit funded by the D.C. Council last year.
For Christina Hanson, an educator and one of several mothers who stood to benefit from the child tax credit, ongoing developments on the Hill call for an act of civil disobedience like what she and three other Black women organized last year.
“I never thought that we’d be almost a year later, still needing to go to Capitol Hill in this way, fighting for the District of Columbia, and the… little autonomy and home rule that we do have,” Hanson told The Informer. “They’re playing with our health, they’re playing with our pockets, they’re playing with our food. Literally everything that we navigate as human beings to survive in this world.”
Last year, as Republicans and some Democrats in both chambers of Congress advanced a continuing resolution eliminating more than $1 billion from D.C.’s local budget, Hanson, Dr. LaJoy Johnson-Law, Allyson Criner Brown, and Jhonna Turner conceptualized “Recess at the Capitol.”
That day-long event, hosted in conjunction with Free DC, DC Action, Washington Teachers’ Union, EmpowerEd, and D.C. Charter Alliance, among others, brought more than 700 District students and parents to the Hart Senate Office Building. That’s where students made signs and accompanied their parents, teachers, advocates on visits to the very people deliberating on the measure that would trigger school and recreation center closures in the middle of Fiscal Year 2024.
Subsequent iterations of Recess at the Capitol, in person and virtual, took place while and well after the Senate’s passage of an amendment on the night of March 14. Ultimately, President Donald J. Trump signed a six-month stopgap measure to fund the federal government for the rest of the fiscal year, but without a solution to D.C.’s $1.1 billion quandary.
The Bowser administration took matters into their hands weeks later, in part, with the use of contingency funds to ensure the continuity of essential government functions throughout the duration of 2024 fiscal year.
As Democrats and District residents engage congressional Republicans in another local budget battle, Hanson says that “Recess at the Capitol” made tangible what these federal representatives often ignore when they use legislation to infringe on local affairs.
“We got families and children involved,” Hanson said. “In some ways, we’re trying to protect our children from those things, but this was the reality check that we all needed, that there are people trying to make decisions that are going to negatively impact our children tomorrow.”
The Resolution in Question, and Reflections About a Seminal Moment
During the latter part of last year, the D.C. Council approved the D.C. Income and Franchise Tax Conformity and Revision Emergency Amendment Act of 2025 with an amendment re-establishing the D.C. child tax credit for the 2026 tax year and the District’s 100% match of federal earned income tax credits for the 2025 tax year.
The council legislation, which was up for congressional review, would have secured at least $670 million in anticipated revenue. However, if the disapproval resolution currently before the Senate makes it to the White House, the District would experience a loss of an equal amount over the next four fiscal years.
Last week, the House approved the disapproval resolution, introduced by Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas 26), with a 215-210 vote. The votes split across party lines, with all affirmative votes coming from Republicans.
Seven House members, four of whom are Democrats, declined to vote.
On Feb. 2, shortly before the House vote, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson sent a letter to House and Senate leadership expressing their dismay about the continuing resolution’s more immediate effects.
They pointed out that, if passed, the resolution would disrupt a tax season that’s already in motion. Bowser later told reporters that such an outcome could delay revenue streams of benefit to the District and its residents.
“Instead of paying your D.C. taxes on April 15th, you would pay them some other day, some other new deadline that the tax office comes up with, which we don’t know what that would be,” Bowser said on Feb. 4. “It also would mean that those who pay their taxes other than withholding would also not be paying until that later deadline, which could present cash flow issues for the city.”
Bowser, though hesitant to compare the disapproval resolution to last year’s continuing resolution, pointed out what some call the most obvious similarity.
“It is quite different, but what is the same is that they would be interfering with a locally passed law,” she added. “We don’t want to deal with the tax nightmare because it introduces a lot of chaos for taxpayers.”
During the latter part of January, as Gill introduced the disapproval resolution to the House’s Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Johnson-Law spoke about the work left to be done.
“The recess movement continues,” said Johnson-Law, Ward 8 representative on the D.C. State Board of Education. “It’s important to have [recognition for] Christina Hanson, Jhonna Turner, Allyson Criner-Brown, and Dr. LaJoy Johnson-Law to let people know not only what we did, but what we’re continuing to do, because it’s not over.”
Since entering office last year, Johnson-Law conducted more than 40 visits to schools and early childcare learning centers in her jurisdiction. At nearly two dozen community events and forums, she also advocated for resources for Ward 8 schools and families.
During a CARE Anacostia meeting on the night of March 9, Johnson-Law was on a similar mission with Criner-Brown, Hanson, and Turner to assess Ward 8’s educational landscape. However, when news broke about the House’s passage of the continuing resolution, the four comrades diverted their attention to more pressing matters.
“We’re always fighting for equity and funding and all the things for our schools and our children,” Johnson-Law said, “and so for someone to be like, ‘We’re taking away $350 million,’ it just enrages your soul. This is about children, the most vulnerable population there is.”
For the rest of that evening, Turner designed a flyer while Criner-Brown emailed Free DC about an implementation process that would unfold over three days. The quartet also spent much of their time reaching out to community members and brainstorming a name for the event that would put federal lawmakers on notice.
With Johnson-Law’s prodding, the group eventually settled on “Recess at the Capitol.”
“At this point, we just needed to take the kids up to the Capitol,” Johnson-Law told The Informer. “I understand that every single person in Congress is put in office by their constituents of their respective states. But guess what? Not only do you represent your constituents, you represent over 700,000 people in D.C. and everyone at this point in this country, point blank period.”
Four Black Women Leading the People
If and when Criner Brown, Hanson, Johnson-Law and Turner decide to host another “Recess at the Capitol, they will more than likely rely on the latter’s knowledge of the U.S. Capitol grounds.
Last year, Turner chose the Hart Senate Office Building on Constitution Avenue NE as the ideal location for the first “Recess at the Capitol.” That’s where youth spent hours immersing themselves in a special type of civic engagement, just down the street from their homes. In a moment celebrated by Turner and other CARE Anacostia members, an Anacostia High School student by the name of Malaysia spoke on behalf of her peers at the second installment of “Recess at the Capitol.”
“In D.C., we have a different level of power,” said Turner, co-founder of CARE Anacostia, a grassroots organization she started with Hanson and others. “To see people come together as a community, different backgrounds, different races to try to get back what is rightfully ours, and having those conversations and breaking it down really elevated D.C. pride.”
Since “Recess at the Capitol,” CARE Anacostia has continued to organize for community members affected by congressional actions. Through its Power Our Schools Program, CARE Anacostia raised $5,000 to support five schools that suffered funding gaps amid the spending freeze triggered by last year’s continuing resolution. During last summer’s federal surge, CARE Anacostia led neighbor-led walks to and from the Anacostia Metro Station.
For Turner, the focus has always been on the young people.
“When we came in, we were thinking about the impact of Ward 8 students, particularly students who are in marginalized schools who deeply rely on the resources from the government,” Turner told The Informer. “We knew that…we have to ensure that our young children have what they need. When you break it down, it’s all politics, and so our children shouldn’t have to feel the brunt of that.”
However, as Criner Brown explained, young people coming out of “Recess at the Capital” are eager to stand on the front lines.
“My daughter still makes Free DC signs,” said Criner Brown, an equity practitioner and parent organizer of more than a decade. “When I think about my kids and their experience, they really got to see all these people who are coming together for something that is this important [to] make a difference.”
During their first visit to the Hart Senate Office Building, Criner Brown spoke to staff members at five senators’ offices as her children, then ages 11 and 6, drew and frollicked in those spaces. As Criner Brown recounted, the lessons in civic engagement started at the kitchen table as her young ones watched her organize “Recess at the Capitol” from the kitchen table.
Criner Brown, who commends Bowser and other local officials for their transparency throughout the entire continuing resolution situation, says that she’s since seen young adults take up the mantle in the fight for D.C. budget autonomy and statehood.
“There are so many young people who found and exercised their voices that day,” Criner Brown said. “I know in part because I’ve seen them at future Free DC meetings. This was their gateway and their connection into more advocacy.”
For Criner Brown, that wouldn’t have been possible without her, Hanson, Johnson-Law and Turner.
“We literally pipelined people into advocacy on behalf of the District,” Criner Brown said.
As District residents reel from congressional attacks on local legislation, Johnson-Law said that Black women have and will continue to play a significant role in rebuffing those actions.
“We’re spending our own money, getting crayons, books, jump rope, snacks, food, water, and getting on Zoom calls,” Johnson-Law said. “We did this in 48 hours. This isn’t new. The Civil Rights Movement would not have been the Civil Rights Movement if it was not for Black women.”