Press Releases

Prior to the start of the DC Council’s legislative recess,Councilmember Henderson introduced the Automatic Retirement Savings Act of 2023. This legislation aims to support employees of our city’s small businesses. Small businesses and their employees are vital to the cultural vibrancy and economic health of the District. While many area employers, including the District government, offer retirement savings programs to their employees, approximately 173,000 employees in the District do not have access to a retirement savings account through their employer. That number may grow as more small businesses establish themselves in the city.

Prior to the start of the DC Council’s legislative recess, Councilmember Henderson introduced legislation that increases the accountability of universities handling sexual assault with the Institution of Higher Education Sexual Misconduct Reporting and Resource Accessibility Act of 2023. One of the most important steps a university can take is providing moral support and resources for sexual assault survivors. Unfortunately, in a survey by the American Association ofUniversities, less than half of students surveyed who had experienced sexual misconduct thought it was likely that an official at a school would take an allegation of sexual misconduct seriously. Approximately 30% of victims contacted at least one program or resource to support them, but only 20.6% of these contacted their institution’s Title IX representative and 17.9% contacted their campus victim services office. 

Last week, Councilmember Henderson introduced the Childhood Continuous Coverage Act of 2023. This bill will require that any child enrolled in Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), or the Immigrant Children’s Program during the ages of 0 to 5 years old will not face a redetermination or risk losing coverage under the program until the end of the month in which they turn 6 years old.

"We have seen so much unimaginable loss in our city due to a rise of gun violence and crime. I’m not just talking about the loss of life, but for many of residents, the loss of feeling safe just doing basic things – going to a barbecue, driving through a neighborhood, taking the Metro. This has had ripple effects across communities and our city. To curb this tide of violence, we need cross-agency collaboration and partnership from all community stakeholders. We ALSO must advance measures that can take the temperature down in our some of our communities, so that diversion and violence interruption programs can actually take hold and work."