During the D.C. Council’s March 31 legislative meeting, council members discussed open meeting modifications and safety standards for athletes and spectators at Capital One Arena. The 13-person body also took emergency action to disapprove the purchase of two dozen new pumper trucks for D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services.
This edition of The Collins D.C. Council Report focuses on the emergency juvenile curfew extension that never happened, as well as the council’s override of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s veto of the Full Accountability in Arrest Reporting Emergency Amendment Act.
But first, a recap of Councilmember Janeese Lewis George’s (D-Ward 4) efforts to address the burden of Pepco’s pay rate increases.
Amid Criticism About Her Opponent, Lewis George Takes on Utility Costs
On March 31, the D.C. Council approved emergency legislation placing a 90-day moratorium on electricity service disconnections. The 8-5 vote came amid the Public Service Commission’s (PSC) attempt to, in the aftermath of an appeals court decision, approve an evidence-based multi-year rate plan.
Councilmember Janeese Lewis George, a 2026 mayoral candidate, led these efforts. Her legislation, titled the Plan Vacatur Interim Protections Emergency Amendment Act of 2026, took shape more than two weeks after she and her opponent, former D.C. Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie, came to blows over the issue of high utility bills during a Free DC candidate forum.
As Lewis George explained on Tuesday, even as PSC goes back to the drawing board, District residents are still subjected to rates that the quasi-judicial body initially approved.
“We’ve seen thousands of disconnection notices, and hundreds of families are already losing power, all while the legal validity of these rates remains unresolved,” Lewis George said on the dais. “In February alone, hundreds of households had their electricity shut off, and tens of thousands received notices. Nearly a quarter of residents are currently already behind on their electric bills.”
In 2024, the new electricity distribution rates for Pepco went into effect after PSC approved a modified version of Pepco’s “Climate Ready Pathway.” The multiyear-rate plan, which covered 2024 through 2026, allowed for an overall increase of $123.4 million — which translated into an average increase of $10 per month per D.C. household over two years.
However, the D.C. Court of Appeals, at the request of the Office of the People’s Counsel (OPC) and Apartment & Office Building Association of Metropolitan Washington (AOBA), vacated PSC’s approval of Pepco’s new rates. Though the court didn’t find the rates unreasonable or unjust, it deemed an evidentiary hearing necessary to resolve disputes.
PSC has since scheduled such a hearing for May 12. In the interim, OPC and AOBA are fighting for refunds to customers, in the form of bill credits, and a return to 2023 rates.
Lewis George’s emergency legislation, as approved by the council, includes an amendment by D.C. Councilmember Charles Allen (D-Ward 6) that narrows the moratorium to ratepayers owing less than $1,000.
The council approved that amendment in a 10-3 vote with D.C. Council members Matt Frumin (D-Ward 3), Wendell Felder (D-Ward 7), and Doni Crawford (I-At large) voting in opposition.
The council later approved the legislation, as amended, with Crawford, Felder, Frumin, along with Councilmember Christina Henderson (I-At large) and D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) casting “no” votes.
For Henderson, the moratorium discussion became a question of whether the council was prepared to go where surrounding jurisdictions haven’t.
“Right now we have some information…from the PSC in terms of when the next evidentiary hearing is going to be held, but we don’t have a timeline in terms of how long it’s going to take to resolve the new rates,” Henderson noted. “How long are we prepared to continue? How long are we going to say that a utility cannot be turned off while this is sort of pending?”
On March 26, the council’s Committee on Transportation and the Environment, chaired by Allen, conducted a hearing that focused on: D.C. Water, Pepco, new energy generation in the District, and auto-enrollment of SNAP and TANF recipients in utility discount programs.
The committee, on which Lewis George sits, heard testimony from PSC. In speaking about future plans to hold PSC accountable, Allen said it’s about putting the quasi-judicial agency in the hot seat.
“That’s good oversight…making sure that the PSC has to be in front of the Council, answering tough questions,” Allen said. “At the end of the day, who is it that we want the PSC to work for? They’re not there to work for the utility companies.”
As the mayoral contest that determines Bowser’s successor rages, questions remain about how Lewis George and McDuffie, the two frontrunners, would tackle quality-of-life issues.
During the March 15 Free DC candidates forum at Matthews Memorial Baptist Church, McDuffie and Lewis George threw jabs at one another. McDuffie criticized Lewis George for her approval of the current PSC members, while Lewis George criticized what some have described as McDuffie’s collusion with utility companies.
According to data collected by the Board of Ethics and Government Affairs, McDuffie had 24 disclosed contacts with Pepco from 2018 up until 2024. During that time, the D.C. Council approved historic climate change legislation that, even with amendments introduced by McDuffie, didn’t allay concerns about utility rate increases. As the Washington City Paper reported in 2023, McDuffie mulled the inclusion of an amendment to the Greener Government Buildings Amendment Act that would exempt D.C.-based construction projects from net-zero standards for the next four years.
Some of McDuffie’s council staffers have also worked on behalf of local utility companies before or after their tenure in the John A. Wilson Building. People in that number include McDuffie’s former chief of staff Corey Arnez Griffin, who’s currently president and chief executive of Global Government and Industry Partners, a lobbying firm with Pepco and Washington Gas as clients.
Others include former chief of staff Ronan Gulstone, whose professional experience includes a stint as government affairs manager at Washington Gas; and former chief of staff Laisha Dougherty, who previously served as senior external affairs manager at Pepco.
McDuffie’s campaign team didn’t provide an on-the-record response to questions about the aforementioned connections to Washington Gas and Pepco, nor his plan, if elected mayor, to keep utility costs at bay.
The Council Stands Against Mayor Bowser in Veto Override
The D.C. Council, once again, stood as a unit as it unanimously overrode Bowser’s veto of the Full Accountability in Arrest Reporting Emergency Amendment Act— one of two bills approved in early March to mandate federal officer transparency.
Last week, Bowser struck down At-large D.C. Councilmember Robert White’s bill while signing the other bill— Ward 2 D.C. Councilmember Brooke Pinto’s Body-Worn Camera Transparency for Use of Force Emergency Amendment Act— into law.
Before the council made its veto override official, White explained why one federal officer transparency bill wouldn’t suffice.
“One provision without the other doesn’t get the job done,” White said on the dais on the afternoon of March 31. “This was emergency legislation which would not have had to go to Congress but was vetoed, inviting unnecessary federal attention. With this vote, we signal our commitment to leadership to transparency and to protecting people in this city.”
As White explained, he gathered feedback from the Office of the Attorney General to shape his bill, while unsuccessfully attempting to do the same with the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). During the council’s March 3 legislative meeting, White and Pinto reached a compromise that allowed for the unanimous passage of their bills.
In her March 30 letter to the council, Bowser dismissed Pinto and White’s legislation as “dueling public safety measures between opposing candidates.” Despite her opposition to the council’s actions earlier in March, Bowser told her legislative counterparts in previous correspondence that Pinto’s bill didn’t require any new action on MPD’s part.
However, as Bowser told The Informer on Monday, White’s bill would be an entirely different undertaking.
“It’s an emergency that would require us to make immediate, upon going into effect, changes to MPD,” Bowser said. “It’s not easy to make those types of changes immediately, and so it’s not a bill to me that is workable for the Metropolitan Police Department.”
On Tuesday, amid congressional discussions that have brought Department of Homeland Security funding to a standstill, White reaffirmed his commitment to federal officer transparency. He did so as he addressed Bowser’s concerns about the load being placed on MPD.
“MPD already documents the name, badge number and agency of every local law enforcement officer present on the scene for arrest reports and probable cause affidavits,” White said in his remarks. “When an officer uses serious force, this bill simply requires MPD to document to the extent known at the time the same information for federal officers present. If they don’t have the information, they can note it in the report.”
White’s work on the Full Accountability in Arrest Reporting Emergency Amendment Act happened in the aftermath of three federal officer-involved shootings, one of which was fatal. Family members of that victim, Julian Bailey, advocated for federal officer accountability in the weeks following his early February death.
Family members of Philip Brown and Justin Nelson, both of whom were shot at by federal officers during vehicular stops, also advocated for council action. Neither family had access to federal officer body-worn camera footage, nor did MPD make note of the shooting incidents in its initial report of Brown’s case.
“When federal officers use force in the District of Columbia, victims and their families should not have to guess who was there, who used force or what happened,” White said in his remarks on Tuesday. “Transparency should not be optional when someone’s life is on the line and this threat isn’t theoretical.”
Bowser remains adamant that Congress is the best path forward for resolving federal officer transparency issues. MPD body-camera footage won’t suffice, she told reporters earlier in the week.
“People may not be getting what they think they’re getting,” Bowser said. “We don’t have federal body-worn cameras. We would be releasing MPD body-worn cameras, and they would likely be not first on the scene. So people still may not be getting what they think they’re getting.”
At Last Minute, the Council Postpones Emergency Juvenile Curfew Extension Vote
In a moment that elicited gasps from Free DC organizers sitting in council chambers, Council Chair Mendelson motioned for the postponement of a vote on Juvenile Curfew Sunset Emergency Amendment Act of 2026, emergency legislation that Councilmember Pinto introduced to extend the District’s emergency juvenile curfew for another 90 days.
The council ultimately approved that motion, with only Pinto and D.C. Councilmembers Lewis George, Anita Bonds (D-At large), and Trayon White (D-Ward 8) voting in opposition. In the hours leading up to the vote, Pinto continued to make the case for an emergency bill that she “sure hope[d]” would have her colleagues’ full support.
“We need nine votes to pass. It should be unanimous,” Pinto told The Informer. “This is an extension of what we’ve got. This has been used as a preventative tool. Colleagues have said for months that they want to do additional measures around youth programming. I have several bills that I’ve introduced that are sitting in other committees.”
For weeks, Pinto struggled to garner the votes needed for a juvenile curfew extension. The Ward 2 council member, who’s currently shepherding permanent legislation through the council’s Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety, said she aimed for passage of the emergency measure before April 15, the sunset date of the emergency curfew currently in place.
With the postponement, such deliberation won’t happen until at least April 21, by which time most District students would be back from spring break. However, as explained by a staffer in Mendelson’s office, a delay allows for council members to ask Pinto, and possibly D.C Mayor Muriel Bowser, questions about the emergency legislation.
Well before what some would consider a predictable outcome, Pinto stood on her square, citing the emergency curfew as a resource in quelling mass gatherings of youth in the District’s commercial districts.
“As a judiciary chair, I believe deeply this is one tool in an entire panoply of strategies, opportunities for young people to keep them safe,” she told The Informer. “It is a bad outcome to have a fight break out and then have dozens and dozens of officers come to a scene to try to disperse it.”
During three March weekends, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) designated Navy Yard, the U Street corridor, Gallery Place, and the Wharf as emergency juvenile curfew zones. In those jurisdictions, young people under the age of 17 were prohibited in groups of nine or larger. However, on March 20-22, MPD and National Guard personnel responded to large gatherings of youth in Navy Yard, which, in the aftermath of the council’s passage of Pinto and D.C. Councilmember Robert White’s emergency federal officer transparency bills, sparked concerns about youth safety.
Earlier this week, Bowser raised similar thoughts in her letter to the council, albeit for different reasons. As young people continue to circulate social media flyers for large outdoor gatherings, the mayor remains adamant that permanent emergency curfew legislation is in order.
“The council should stop playing games with this,” Bowser said. “This is a tool that we need. We’re going to keep coming back every 90 days, and you’re going to keep asking me the same question. We need it. We’re going to come back in 90 days from now. Stop playing games and move to permanent.”
On the day preceding the council’s vote on the emergency juvenile curfew extension, Deputy Mayor for Education (DME) Paul Kihn sent D.C. Councilmember Christina Henderson (I-At large) a letter in response to her inquiry about spring and summer recreational activities and programs for youth.
The eight-page letter outlined offerings by various agencies, including D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation, Metropolitan Police Department, D.C. Department of Youth and Rehabilitation Services, and D.C. Public Schools. The document also explained the government’s collaboration with community-based organizations and plans currently in the works for youth programming in commemoration of the United States’ 250th anniversary.
As the DME’s Office of Out of School Time Programs, in collaboration with interns at a University of the District Columbia program, assesses youth experiences in extracurricular programming, Kihn said he’s committed to transparent and ongoing improvements.
“Please let me know if you need additional details, data reports, or a briefing,” Kihn wrote Henderson on March 30. “District partners look forward to welcoming thousands of D.C. youth this spring and summer in safe, engaging, and supportive spaces.”
Henderson would later express her yearning for more.
“It was lengthy, but to be honest, at least in my initial read, everything that they outlined was stuff that they were already doing,” Henderson told The Informer before the council’s March 31 Committee of the Whole meeting. “I was looking for a bit more specifics. I was hoping that they would say, ‘Okay, here’s our calendar of events for spring break, and then we’ll roll out the rest of the stuff in terms of the summer later on.’”
Despite her slight disappointment, she expressed gratitude.
“It’s encouraging that these conversations are happening,” Henderson said, “particularly thinking about, the summer months, all the events that are going to be coming on. How can we connect or activate locally to give young people an opportunity to engage and be a part?”
