.svg)
Dear Neighbors,
The sun is setting earlier each day, and our clocks will soon “fall back” on Sunday, November 1. That means brighter mornings and darker evenings. Fall is truly here, and she is busy.
A reminder, if you haven’t already voted, in-person early voting in the District starts on Monday, October 26, and ends on Sunday, November 1, with polls remaining open from 8:30am to 7:00pm. The general election will decide several seats across local and federal government, including hundreds of Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners. You can find a Vote Center or Mail Ballot Drop Box near you here.
I’m excited to share that my introduced bill the Surveillance Pricing Prohibition Amendment Act of 2026 received its public hearing this week by the Committee on Public Works and Operations. What is surveillance pricing, you may ask?
Surveillance pricing is the practice of a company using a person’s personal data collected through monitoring tools to set a personalized price for a good or service based on what that company believes the person is willing to pay. Picture this: two people shopping for the exact same product, at the exact same time, are shown two different prices. Not because either product costs more to make or deliver, or because one person is buying more of it, but because a company has collected information about them and determined it can charge one person more than the other because their price sensitivities are different.
This may sound fictitious or hypothetical, but it is an example of surveillance pricing that is already occurring across the country. However, states like Maryland, Georgia, Ohio, Minnesota, New York and California have already passed legislation to address this issue in specific industries. The Surveillance Pricing Prohibition Amendment Act of 2026 takes a less narrow route and targets the use of personal information gathered through surveillance itself by amending the District’s Consumer Protection Procedures Act (CPPA), creating new definitions for “surveillance-based price discrimination” and “personally identifiable information,” and explicitly classifying surveillance-based pricing as an unfair or deceptive trade practice under D.C. Code.
Based on feedback from the hearing, the bill will certainly be refined, but no one can argue the need for further consumer protection. In December 2025, Groundwork Collaborative and Consumer Reports published the findings from their experiment looking at Instacart pricing across four different cities. DC was one. Researchers found that overall Instacart basket totals varied by an average of about 7% for the exact same items from the exact same store locations, at the exact same time. WalMart is rolling out digital shelf labeling to replace paper tags. While store executives say this is for efficiency, there are real fears that combined with dynamic pricing, the price a consumer sees on the shelf when they pick up a product could be changed before they even hit the cash register to check out. We are getting away from static, printed pricing which provides predictability for consumers. Consider this tidbit which was brought up at this week’s hearing as you head into the holiday season – although Target, Amazon, and WalMart have mailed out toy catalogs, there’s not a single price listed in any of them.
Page from Amazon Kids Gift Book, Holiday 2026 displaying a lack of prices.
District residents deserve to feel confident that a given good or service’s quoted price reflects its true market value, so that they may make informed decisions based on the price they see, the value they place on the product, and the alternatives available to them. As the District continues to face affordability issues, protecting consumers from practices that undermine transparency will continue to be priority.
As we get closer to Halloween, be sure to stay updated with MPD’s 2026 Halloween safety tips and safe haven events. You can also find a list of DC government hosted Halloween events, here.
In Service,
Christina Henderson
Councilmember, At-Large
ChristinaHendersonDC.com
Pictured above: During the DC Council’s first vote on Councilmember Henderson’s introduced legislation, the Rodent Education and Management Yields Results (REMY) Amendment Act of 2026, Councilmember Henderson was joined by Remy himself.
On Wednesday, October 14, during an additional meeting, the Committee on Health voted to advance the Rodent Education and Management Yields (REMY) Results Amendment Act of 2026, the Streamlining Medicaid Credentialing Amendment Act of 2025, and the Captive Insurance Company Amendment Act of 2026.
The same day, the Committee on Health held a public hearing on the HealthCare Facilities Regulation Amendment Act of 2026 and the Health Benefit Exchange Authority Technical Amendment Act of 2026.
On Thursday, October 15, the Committee on Health held a public roundtable on long-term care for District residents with complex medical and behavioral health needs. Councilmember Henderson heard from experts, providers, advocates, and family caregivers about the gaps that leave residents in hospitals longer than medically necessary or without appropriate housing and care. Dr. Hannah Kaufman, Age-Friendly DC Program Officer in the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services, also participated and provided testimony. Witnesses raised concerns about closures of DBH Mental Health Community Residential Facilities (MHCRFs), inadequate reimbursement, workforce shortages, and poor coordination during care transitions. Testimony emphasized that effective long-term care must support residents’ independence, choices, and connections to community, alongside their medical needs. Participants highlighted opportunities to strengthen permanent supportive and recovery housing, expand specialized workforce training, improve payment models, and adapt promising approaches from other jurisdictions. The discussion underscored the need for a coordinated District strategy to ensure residents can access appropriate services in the least restrictive setting.
On Monday, October 19, Councilmember Henderson introduced the Dental Hygienist Amendment Act of 2026 to expand access to critical preventative oral health care by creating a pathway for internationally educated dentists already living in our communities to become licensed dental hygienists in the District. This bill would also help address the dental hygienist shortage.
You can find the upcoming schedule for the Committee on Health below; witnesses can sign up to testify at https://lims.dccouncil.gov/hearings/. Stay tuned for updates.
On Friday, October 16, the Committee of the Whole held a public hearing on revenue proposals for the FY28 Budget, such as a new business activity tax, a new wealth proceeds tax, a new pied-a-terre tax, a sales tax increase, a real property tax increase, an income tax increase, and transitioning to a land value tax. During the hearing, Councilmember Henderson questioned how implementing any of these might impact affordability and whether the District could strike a balance that does not incentivize relocation.
On Monday, October 19, the Committee on Public Works and Operations held a public hearing on Councilmember Henderson’s introduced bill, the Surveillance Pricing Prohibition Amendment Act of 2026. The bill would address emerging concerns around digital marketplace practices that hike prices of goods and would protect DC residents from exploitative surveillance-based pricing strategies. Witness testimony included industry requests for exclusive enforcement from the Office of the Attorney General, concerns regarding the breadth of the bill’s influence, and complaints about surveillance pricing in numerous industries, including self-storage.
On Tuesday, October 20, the Committee of the Whole held its thirty-eighth legislative meeting. During the meeting the Council approved on first vote Councilmember Henderson’s introduced legislation Streamlining Medicaid Credentialing Amendment Act of 2025 and the Rodent Education and Management Yields Results Amendment Act of 2026.
Building an Inclusive Healthcare System
On Tuesday, October 13, Committee on Health staff members, including Health Policy Advisor Rebecca Cooper and Legislative Assistant Ange Joseph, attended La Clinica del Pueblo’s 2026 Health Summit: Centering Latino Communities in Primary Care. Conversation reinforced Latino voices in the community and emphasized a healthcare system for all, and the collective work required behind it.
Rodent Abatement and Keeping DC Residents Safe
On Thursday, October 15, Councilmember Henderson discussed her introduced legislation, the Rodent Education and Management Yields Results (REMY) Amendment Act of 2026 with Capital News Service. During the interview, she emphasized the importance of decreasing rodent food sources, increasing public education on rodent abatement, and keeping District residents safe.
Increasing Student Attendance
On Monday, October 19, Councilmember Henderson visited Digital Pioneers Academy (DPA), a public charter school Southeast DC that aims to equip students with computer skills. She was joined by Mashea Ashton, DPA Founder and CEO; Karen Lee, Executive Director of Fifty in DC; Michelle Walker-Davis, Executive Director of DC Public Charter School Board, and the newest cohort of Digital Pioneer students. During her visit she discussed attendance initiatives and heard from students about their experiences in the program.
Pumpkin Palooza
Join the fall fun at PumpkinPalooza on October 28 at Alethia Tanner Park. Enjoy free “pick-your-own” pumpkins, live music, great food, local vendors, and costumed characters for families and neighbors to enjoy. It’s one of NoMa’s most popular community events and a festive way to celebrate the season. The Lead-Safe and Healthy Housing Division will be participating, as a tabling resource partner. We hope to see at the Alethia Tanner Park (227 Harry Thomas Way, NE) on Wednesday, October 28, at 7:00pm.
Lost in Translation Book Club
This book club aims to celebrate the labor translators provide in expanding the beauty of the literary world. Through contemporary works of fiction from authors in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and China, with an honorable feature from the current poet laureate of the United States, Arthur Sze, we will explore the role of translation in enriching our understanding of the human condition. And read some great books!
The club will alternate between virtual and in person meetings on select Mondays, lasting for about one hour every month. Limited copies of each book will be available for checkout at West End Neighborhood library.
Please email westendlibrary@dc.gov for a link to the virtual meetings, or with any questions.
The DC History Conference: Submissions Open!
The DC History Conference is the largest annual gathering for history and humanities-minded people who care about the city of Washington, DC. The conference invites submissions from all community members: artists, educators, local organizers, performers, public history practitioners, researchers, scholars across the humanities and other fields, and students from middle through graduate school. In addition to traditional panel presentations, the committee encourages a variety of formats to showcase your work: the Research Showcase, History Network, Coffee Chat, Authors’ Corner, film screening, and other creative interpretations of history. The submission deadline is Wednesday, November 4, 2026, at 10:00am.
The DC History Conference is co-presented by DC History Center + HumanitiesDC and DC Public Library and supported by organizational partners and a volunteer planning committee.
You can view more information and the conference submission form, here.
What is the Regional Travel Survey?
The Regional Travel Survey collects demographics, daily travel activities, and typical transportation patterns of people who live in the National Capital Region. This information is vital for regional and local planning agencies to understand how community growth, development, and other changes impact the transportation system. The National Capital Region Transportation Board has conducted this type of household travel survey once every decade since 1968. The last Regional Travel Survey was conducted in 2017-2018, and this is the first survey to be conducted since the pandemic. This is your opportunity to participate and help planners understand how daily travel patterns and needs in our region are changing.
You can access the survey, here.
Get Paw-tected, Free Vaccines
Don’t miss the chance to paw-tect your pet! DC residents are welcome to bring their cat or dog for free vaccines including Rabies, FVRCP and DA2PPV, plus free microchips. No registration needed, first come first served!
DC Justice Lab Presents: The Community Safety Fair
The Community Safety Fair is an opportunity for residents of the District to come together and learn from community leaders who rarely get a platform about how to co-create a sustainable #SafeAndFreeDC. Participants from DC Justice Lab’s Policy Training Academy present their ideas in a “science fair” format as guests walk around the event space. The Fair is both an opportunity to celebrate the participants’ hard work and dedication to the community and an invitation to dream and build together. During the event, anyone attending can speak directly with residents fighting to improve public safety in the District and join the effort to ensure the District’s policies reflect the people’s will. Join us on Saturday, October 24, from 1:00pm to 3:00pm at 801 K Street Northwest, 2nd Floor.
RSVP for the Community Safety Fair, here.
Color the Curb: School Safety Program Grant
The District of Columbia Commission on the Arts and Humanities (CAH), in partnership with the District of Columbia Department of Transportation (DDOT), and District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS), seeks District-based artists experienced in large-scale exterior murals, youth engagement, and community-based projects to design and install ground murals in the intersections near four DCPS schools in Washington, DC. Selected artists will be awarded grant funds to be used for design, materials, fabrication, installation, personnel, and project management.
The submission deadline for the grant is Monday, November 16, at 5:00pm. Awardees will be notified on or about January 2027, with the awarded amount of $30,000. Contact Public Art Coordinator Deirdre Darden, at deirdre.darden@dc.gov for additional information and questions.
You can apply, here.
The Return of Free Veggie Giveaways
It's officially FREE veggie giveaway season in Washington, DC. The Department of Parks and Recreation is bringing farm-fresh produce straight to the community, from rooftop harvests to garden-grown goods, this is your weekly chance to grab fresh, locally grown food -on us.
From now until November 25 (weather permitting) you can attend weekly veggie giveaways at DPR communal farms.
Early arrival and reusable bags are encouraged.
To attend giveaways participants must be registered. You can find more information and register, here.
Have a constituent service need related to the Health Committee or any of the other agencies in DC Government? Want Councilmember Henderson to come to your community event or meeting? Don’t hesitate to reach out to our Constituent Services Director Ana Berrios-Vazquez during regular business hours (9:00am - 5:30pm) at 202-724-8105, or ABerriosVazquez@dccouncil.gov.