This edition of The Collins Council Report comes after a Committee of the Whole and legislative meeting that started nearly three hours later than scheduled. The legislative meeting had several delays due to audio malfunction.
Readers can check out a separate article about the Secure DC omnibus bill that came out of the legislative meeting. Below is a recap of three other important pieces of legislation that came before the council on March 5.
Students’ Right to Home or Hospital Instruction
The D.C. Council unanimously approved the Extended Students’ Right to Home or Hospital Instruction Amendment Act on Tuesday during the second reading of the bill.
Earlier this year, D.C. Councilmember Christina Henderson (I-At large) told The Informer that the original law around home/hospital instruction, as interpreted by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education, excluded students who were parents.
She said that failure to move ahead with the legislative change could impede student parents’ efforts to continue their education before and after childbirth.
This legislation, introduced by D.C. Councilmembers Henderson, Anita Bonds (D-At large), Charles Allen (D-Ward 6), Robert White (D-At large), and Vincent C. Gray (D-Ward 7), added pre-birth complications, childbirth, and postpartum recovery to the list of conditions that are deemed eligible for student home and hospital instruction.
Restaurant Revitalization and Dram Shop Clarification
The D.C. Council approved, by a 12-1 vote, the Restaurant Revitalization and Dram Shop Clarification Amendment Act during its second reading.
D.C. Councilmember Vincent C. Gray was the sole “no” vote.
Along the way to the full passage of this bill, the council engaged in discussion about some amendments. D.C. Councilmember Brianne Nadeau (D-Ward 1) also attempted unsuccessfully to postpone the vote through a motion.
The council unanimously approved an amendment by D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) that repeals a section of the Minimum Wage Act Revision Act of 1992 mandating the creation of a tipped worker portal and obligates employers of tipped workers to file reports.
An amendment by Mendelson that moves up the implementation of Initiative 82 from July 1,2027 to July 1, 2025 didn’t overcome concerns about the erosion of public trust in the council that would come about. The council struck down the amendment in a 3-10 vote, with Mendelson, along with D.C. Council members Bonds and Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2), voting in the affirmative.
The council narrowly approved, by a 7-6 vote, an amendment that Mendelson introduced to, not only mandate restaurants’ public disclosure of service fees, but protect businesses that comply with the law from private lawsuits. Restaurants’ service fee disclosure, as written in the amendment, would be either done verbally by tipped workers, or via visible signage, placement in menus.
Mendelson later struck verbal disclosure from the amendment.
Council members Gray, Nadeau, White (D-At-Large), Trayon White (D-Ward 8), Janeese Lewis George (D-Ward 4), and Henderson voted in opposition to that amendment. Nadeau expressed concern about the business protection portion, saying that it would disadvantage consumers.
D.C. Councilmember Matt Frumin (D-Ward 3) successfully submitted an oral amendment to Mendelson’s amendment stating that the fee disclosure would include more detail about how restaurateurs would disburse funds between operations and tipped worker compensation.
This happened moments after Frumin withdrew an amendment capping restaurant service charges at 20%, only 5% of which would be dedicated to operating costs.
Despite the bill’s passage, there’s still a question of whether consumers will ever gain clarity around the purpose of service fees and what will become of them in the years leading up to Initiative 82’s full implementation.
Earlier, during the council breakfast, Henderson expressed concern about overreach in enforcement of the service fees cap. She later warned her colleagues that capping service fees requires a drawn-out conversation with the tipped worker community.
Meanwhile, At-large Councilmember White suggested that the provision about the cap be written out of the amendment altogether. Ward 8 Councilmember White inquired about what Mendelson was hearing from the D.C. business lobbying community about this portion of the bill.
Extension of Opioid Crisis and Juvenile Crime Public Emergencies
The D.C. Council approved the Opioid Crisis and Juvenile Crime Public Emergencies Extension Authorization Emergency Declaration Resolution, by a 10-1-2 vote.
Council Chairman Mendelson voted “no” while Councilmembers Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5) and Gray (D-Ward 7) were absent.
In November, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) declared a public health emergency in response to the opioid crisis and youth violence. That declaration followed the passage of a council resolution calling on the mayor to enact the public emergency.
The emergency order allowed for quicker access to opioid abatement resources and guidance around the creation of a collective overdose tracking system. Per D.C. Councilmember Christina Henderson (I-At large), Bowser executed emergency contracts for a substance abuse marketing campaign and substance abuse treatment for co-existing conditions at Children’s National Medical Center in Northwest.
Pinto, speaking about the juvenile justice aspect of the emergency legislation, later mentioned the expansion of shelter beds for youth under the public emergency.
Even with the passage of the resolution, some issues lie ahead.
She also referenced what she called strict parameters around disbursement of funds and the District’s opioid abatement advisory commission taking too long to make funding decisions.
During Tuesday’s council breakfast, Henderson revealed some apprehension that the D.C. Office of the Attorney General (OAG) had about the mayor’s potential abuse of her procurement authority. She told her colleagues that she’s more concerned about the Executive Office of the Mayor not executing all the resources at its disposal during the public emergency.
Spokespeople for OAG didn’t immediately respond to an Informer request for some documentation about the office’s concerns.
