In the days and hours leading up the D.C. Council’s second reading of the Fiscal Year 2027 local budget, various people, including D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D), expressed concern about what would eventually become of the District’s coffers.
For some local organizers, the D.C. Council dropped the ball in not advancing a wealth tax that promises to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in future revenue to fund programs that, year after year, are on the chopping block.
“You’re choosing rich folks’ comfortability over poor folks’ life, and that is the story of our community,” said Nadia Salazar, a Bolivian migrant and strategic campaigns manager at the DC Fiscal Policy Institute. “We’ve been dealt the hand of the feds in our streets. We’ve had executives that open the doors to our communities that allow for nothing but rampage and terror to come through. Now, we have the opportunity to create a new path for a new future, but what have we done? Not enough.”
On the morning of June 23, shortly before the council conducted its Committee of the Whole and legislative meetings, Salazar and dozens of other organizers converged outside of council chambers in demand of a tax on the wealthy and more effort on the part of the legislative body to fully revitalize programs that Bowser defunded in her “Grow DC” budget proposal.
By the time that representatives of D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute, DC Action, Fair Budget Coalition, DC Jobs with Justice, and Mary’s Center gathered on the fifth floor of the John A. Wilson Building, D.C. Councilmember Brianne Nadeau (D-Ward 1) announced her intentions to introduce standalone legislation to tax the passive income of high-income earners.
The legislation, if passed, is estimated to generate nearly $200 million in revenue in the first year, and more than $100 million in subsequent years. For Salazar and others, Nadeau’s move wouldn’t be as immediate or forceful as an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Support Act, as the Ward 1 council member had initially planned.
“We’ve done comfortability for the rich…and complete neglect for the rest of us,” Salazar said in criticism of the District council. “What’s at hand is the lives of our people. It is the dialysis patient. It is the person that’s about to hit the street. It is a parent who’s working paycheck to paycheck and does not know that they’re going to give their kid a birthday gift.”
After approving a local budget amended without a wealth tax, some council members extolled their efforts to restore programs and help constituents. Hours earlier, Salazar gave a call to action to those who’d be sitting across from the legislators.
“I want you all to go in there, and…look at them with the knowledge that they weren’t courageous enough, as they are not every year,” she said.
As the Mayor and CFO Weigh In, the Council Makes Final Changes to the FY27 Budget
Nadeau said she opted for permanent legislation cognizant that, in addition to not yet having feedback from the Office of Revenue Analysis, moving the wealth tax through the budget process would be more cumbersome.
“It’s really hard to do a revenue raiser at second reading,” she told The Informer. “In order to do it at second reading, you have to do a motion to reconsider. It’s very complicated. We thought it was better to take a look at this in the fall with that revenue roundtable that Phil [Mendelson] is doing.”
During the earlier part of June, while speaking with The Informer, Bowser told The Informer that the council has been making questionable budgetary decisions. With her mayoral budget development days behind her, she gave her take on the wealth tax discussion.
“I don’t support any more tax increases,” she said, “[Top earners] already are taxed on capital gains….in a way that is outsized in the District from our surrounding jurisdictions. So would I [attach] an additional tax? Absolutely not.”
Nadeau’s legislation, slated to be introduced in July, imposes a 3% surtax on the portion of annual income surpassing $400,000 for individuals and $500,000 for households. Days after Bowser wrote a letter warning the council, and particularly Democratic mayoral nominee Janeese Lewis George, about recent one-time funding decisions, Nadeau remains insistent on her push for additional tax revenue.
“We will have a mayor in the seat who will be a good steward of those dollars,” Nadeau said about Lewis George, who’s currently the Ward 4 council member. “It’s more about creating that revenue for the general fund so that a strong mayor can decide how to spend it on people.”
During its June 23 legislative meeting, the D.C. Council approved the Fiscal Year 2027 Local Budget Act, Fiscal Year 2027 Federal Portion Budget Request Act, and Fiscal Year 2026 Revised Local Budget Emergency Act.
The first bill included a hodgepodge of amendments D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson introduced, including that which adjusted the allocation of $21 million in fiscal years 2027 and 2028 for Park Morton redevelopment, and funded the renovation of athletic fields at Johnson Middle School in Southeast and Garrison Elementary School in Northwest.
On Tuesday, Mendelson shepherded other amendments that provide funding for a full-time ombudsman at D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services, two full-time positions at D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development, along with the Workforce Investment Account, and D.C. Department of Transportation.
Another $2.1 million goes to D.C. Board of Elections (DCBOE) to support elections during the new fiscal year. Other allocations increase support of the D.C. Sustainable Energy Utility and the D.C. Department of Behavioral Health’s school-based mental health program.
A day following the council’s private meeting about contingency funds, the legislative body approved a list by Mendelson that, in the event of revenue growth next June, September, and December, dedicates $150 million to: the replenishment of the District’s fiscal stabilization reserve; $9 million to the D.C. Housing Authority in anticipation of federal voucher expiration; allocations to emergency rental assistance; DYRS’ credible messenger programs; and the Workforce Investment Account.
Mendelson advanced this cocktail of amendments after D.C. Chief Financial Officer Glen Lee demanded the council approve a balanced budget and four-year financial plan that doesn’t include $150 million in reserve funds, as approved in the council’s first reading of the Fiscal Year 2027 budget.
Even with the contingent replenishment of those funds, which, according to Wall Street, currently stand above what’s deemed sustainable, Mendelson didn’t anticipate Lee reneging on his threat.
“I don’t think he’s going to back down,” Mendelson said. “I don’t care.”
After Last Year’s Disappointment, Initiative 83 Proponents Find Success
In 2000, the late Aaliyah Haughton— known to many simply as Aaliyah— sang, “If at first you don’t succeed, dust yourself off and try again.”
More than a quarter-century later, Lisa D.T. Rice and her comrades saw such words come to life as they watched the council approve an amendment that funds the semi-open primary portion of Initiative 83, the ballot measure they successfully campaigned around two years prior.
“The first thing that went through my mind was, ‘Is this really happening?’” Rice told The Informer. “I had faith, but I still didn’t believe it until I heard the votes.”
During its budget vote last year, the council struck down an amendment by D.C. Councilmember Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2) to fund semi-open primaries. A year later, during the 2026 D.C. Democratic primary, Rice stood outside of Turkey Thicket Recreation Center in advocacy of a cause that she said was at the forefront of her mind.
“So many people came to me during the primaries who thought that because the initiative had won, then they would be able to vote in the primaries,” Rice told The Informer, “I got a lot of letters, emails, DMs, texts from people who were very, very disappointed. It saddened me, but it re-energized me to keep fighting for this.”
During its June 23 Committee of the Whole meeting, the council, by a 9-2-2 vote, approved independent at-large D.C. Councilmember Christina Henderson’s amendment to fund semi-open primaries. Mendelson and D.C. Councilmember Wendell Felder (D-Ward 7) voted in opposition, while D.C. Council members Doni Crawford (I-At large) and Trayon White (D-Ward 8), both of whom weren’t on the dais during last year’s vote, voted “present.”
Weeks after the D.C. Democratic Party lost a court battle to nullify Initiative 83, Felder questioned whether Henderson gathered feedback from party leaders. Mendelson, in the same vein, gave a U.S. history lesson on the dais, citing how political parties became endemic to U.S. democracy.
“By human nature in politics, there are going to be parties, and people are going to gravitate to parties. So that’s what we have,” Mendelson said. “I realize that there’s unhappiness within the Democratic Party…and there’s unhappiness within the Republican Party… but I just have a challenge in my mind with the idea that non-Democrats would select who the Democratic candidate is.”
Ward 8 D.C. Councilmember White also chimed in, saying his qualm stemmed from the use of workforce investment dollars to fund the more-than-$960,000 expenditure over the course of the four-year financial plan.
Crawford, an independent council member who just came out of a special election, spoke to her hopes for a future where voters could weigh in on one topic at a time via ballot initiative.
“I have…heard from many voters who supported ranked-choice voting but opposed semi-open primaries and others who supported semi-open primaries but not ranked-choice voting,” Crawford said. “Combining multiple subjects into a single ballot measure made it difficult for voters to express their views on each proposal independently, and I continue to hear from constituents today who do not support semi-open primaries today.”
Henderson, a longtime proponent of ranked-choice voting, said she introduced the semi-open primary amendment in recognition of residents who, despite not joining a political party, are making their mark in other ways.
“They pay taxes, volunteer in communities, serve on advisory neighborhood commissions, coach youth sports, attend civic meetings, and contribute to every part of public life in every corner of our city,” Henderson said. “We all have constituents who are federal employees and cannot affiliate with a particular political party. We have neighbors who are judges, who are members of the military, journalists, or simply residents who have chosen not to join a party. Regardless of the reason, they care deeply about the city and deserve a meaningful voice in shaping its future.”
By the time of the June 16 primaries, DCBOE received mail-in, dropbox, and in-person ballots from 30% of the District’s registered voters. In years past, voter participation has become a topic of note, with Initiative 83 proponents, to some degree, heralding ranked-choice voting and open primaries as tools in bringing more people to the ballot box.
While he didn’t speak to the future of voter participation, D.C. Councilmember Matt Frumin (D-Ward 3) implored his colleagues to respect the will of those who approved Initiative 83.
“The one thing we do know is tens of thousands of D.C. residents who, for whatever reason, choose not to affiliate with a party,” Frumin said, “which is an increasing phenomenon, not just in Washington, D.C., but in the country, will have their voices meaningfully heard in our elections, which is exactly what three-quarters of our electorate said should happen in the referendum.”
Rice, a non-party-affiliated voter herself, said it’s yet to be seen how semi-open primaries will affect voter turnout.
“I don’t know how many will participate the first time they’re able to,” she said. “We’ll probably be just like everybody else.”
The Work Left to be Done
Fair Budget Coalition member Sheila White credits her acquisition of affordable housing as a turning point in her adult life.
“I’m starting to work again. I’m thriving,” she said on the morning of June 23.
In 2022, while pursuing her associate’s degree at the University of District of Columbia, White left a voucher waiting list that she said had her in a chokehold for a decade.
Even though she’s more stable, she said the thought of what’s to come stays on her mind.
“We need to put the money back in the voucher system,” White said. “We don’t have enough funding. The ones who have vouchers, they are subject to losing their vouchers. We don’t need that. We have a lot of people out there on the streets that are dying on the streets. That’s a shame.”
In addition to taxes on the wealthy, advocates pressed for an additional $23 million in emergency rental assistance, cost-of-living increases for TANF, restoration of the full 12 weeks of paid family leave, and an extra $2 million in early childcare educator pay equity funds.
As Veronica Hernandez said, health care is also a priority for the District’s most vulnerable populations.
“Two weeks ago, my client went to Georgetown Hospital to try to get an evaluation to get the kidney transplant, but she couldn’t get the evaluation because the DC Alliance is not covering,” said Hernandez, entitlement manager at Mary’s Center.
Hernandez, who’s been at Mary’s Center for more than a decade, alleges that D.C. Department of Human Services (DHS), two years after conducting its coverage redetermination process, has kicked people off of their insurance coverage based on old income data that doesn’t reflect her clients’ current financial situation.
“Two years ago, maybe they were making that income, but currently people are not making enough money,” Hernandez said. “We are seeing a lot of discrepancies on how they decide who is going to be out of the program for the DC Alliance.”
DHS didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Hernandez’s visit to the Wilson Building counts among her latest efforts to engage the council and shed light on a situation she said has been exacerbated since the last budget season. Despite an increase in health care investments on this go round, Hernandez said that a significant portion of her clients, many of whom are migrants, are scared to resubmit their information for DC Alliance.
“Our clinics are so full. We don’t have any appointments available until the end of July for people seeking assistance for medical insurance,” Hernandez said. “It’s putting more work…because there has been a lot of miscommunication between agencies and the community too, and also health care centers. We are here to help and work together, but … they don’t see us as partners to work together and make this a smooth process for the community.”
