Press Releases

Today, Councilmember Christina Henderson along with Councilmembers Charles Allen, Brianne K. Nadeau, Brooke Pinto, Mary M. Cheh, Elissa Silverman and Janeese Lewis George introduced the Voter Ownership, Integrity, Choice, and Equity (VOICE) Amendment Act of 2021. This legislation would introduce ranked choice voting to the District of Columbia for our 2024 elections, with an accompanying public education campaign about the transition.

My proposed Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) Fair Shot Budget marked the turning of a corner on a global public health crisis that has killed millions of people worldwide and led to a swift and deep global recession. This is a budget that makes significant investments to provide relief, recovery, and growth for residents and businesses across all eight wards. In formulating this budget, we focused on what we know to be the pillars of an equitable recovery: access to safe and affordable housing, high-quality job training, healthy neighborhoods, academic acceleration, increased access to quality child care, programs to reduce gun violence, safe and accessible transportation options, and support for businesses and residents hit hardest by the economic crisis of the past nearly year and a half.

Today, the Committee on Health held its mark-up for the proposed fiscal year 2022 budget for the District of Columbia’s public health agencies. Councilmember Christina Henderson continues to champion additional investments in maternal health and worked with the Committee on Health Chair Vincent C. Gray and Chairman Phil Mendelson to incorporate, and fund, several elements of the Maternal Health Resources and Access Act of 2021 (B24-26), which she introduced in January.

Watch the recording of our Town Hall: Understanding the Budget. We hope this event provided a helpful explanation of the budget process and how you can participate.

Please find the official budget calendar for the FY22 proposed budget. The Council of the District of Columbia hereby gives notice of its intention to hold public hearings on the FY 2022 Proposed Budget and Financial Plan. The hearings will begin Thursday, June 3, 2021 and conclude on Thursday, June 24, 2021. The Committee mark-ups will begin Tuesday, June 29, 2021 and conclude on Thursday, July 1, 2021.

Today, Councilmember Henderson introduced the School Police Incident Oversight and Accountability Amendment Act of 2021. Consistent with the recommendations of the DC Police Reform Commission, this legislation would require data on school policing to be collected and made publicly accessible in a manner that allows for disaggregation by race, gender, age, and disability status.