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The measure — which would allow residents to cast votes on their smartphones, laptops or tablets — was introduced Friday by D.C. Council member Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2). It was co-introduced by Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) and D.C. Council members Trayon White Sr. (D-Ward 8), Christina Henderson (I-At Large), Brianne K. Nadeau (D-Ward 1), Anita Bonds (D-At Large), Robert C. White Jr. (D-At Large) and Vincent C. Gray (D-Ward 7).

DOES plans to adopt an “earn and learn” approach by offering paid internships and apprenticeships while school is in session.

At-Large Councilmember Christina Henderson pressed Carter to collaborate with D.C. police to apprehend the de-booter.

Flashback: Last December, the agency told lawmakers it had only four staff members to boot vehicles with unpaid traffic tickets, even though there is a backlog of over 630,000 vehicles that are eligible for a boot.

“We had students and workers, elderly folks, everyone calling us saying, ‘my child is outside in the freezing weather waiting for their bus that either came 30 to 45 minutes late or didn’t come at all,’” Amanda Farnan, D.C. councilmember Christina Henderson’s communications director, said. “That should never be a situation that we are putting residents in.”

"They play a critical role in the lives of our young people, making it possible for parents to work and provide for their families," council member Christina Henderson said. But caregivers have been overlooked. "For so long [they] have been paid at a level that does not represent the value they contribute to our community," Henderson added.

“I certainly understand the mistrust some may be feeling about this contract. I had skepticism about the scope, skepticism about the cost,” said Councilmember Christina Henderson (I-At Large) before casting her vote in favor. “I kicked the tires as much as I could… there are great benefits in the structure.”

“It’s going to be directly distributed to educators and I want to give a shout out to OSSE, who has actually stepped up in terms of their commitment here to distribute $53.9 million in the next year as direct supplemental payments to educators separate from their existing salaries,” council member Christina Henderson said.

“D.C. is already a leader in these issues, and we would be taking it a step further in terms of our competitiveness in the region, not just with the federal government but with our neighboring jurisdictions,” Henderson said, “and to at least try and offer the same type of benefits that we’re already providing the private sector.”

“Given the state of where the District is, we can offer our employees medical leave. We shouldn’t have a situation where, if someone has to get a surgery, they either have to take their sick time or their annual leave or go ask their colleagues to be able to use some of their leave in order to recover,” Henderson tells DCist/WAMU. “Our government is completely capable of providing that time off.”

“The whole idea there was: There are occasions and situations that happen, you know, before a child arrives, where expecting parents might need to take time off for a procedure or something else. And so, we wanted to make that available to them because the way that parental leave is set up, you’re not able to actually access that until a delivery happens,” Henderson said.

DOES Director Unique Morris-Hughes has claimed such actions have contributed to backlogs. But delays have been an issue long before Silverman and others got involved to resolve said delays. Moreover, at Council meetings last spring, Morris-Hughes took issue with councilmembers sharing their own information on unemployment. But Silverman, At-Large Councilmember Robert White, At-Large Councilmember Christina Henderson, and Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George said they never received DOES information in layperson’s terms, wondering aloud how residents were expected to navigate the UI system if they basically had to be experts to do so.