A subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives Thursday heard testimony on legislation that could provide D.C. with both legislative and budgetary autonomy.
Mayor Adrian Fenty and other District officials testified in support of The District of Columbia Budget Autonomy Act of 2007 and The District of Columbia Legislative Autonomy Act of 2007 to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, Postal Service and The District of Columbia.
Fenty said the legislation, proposed by District of Columbia Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, doesn’t diminish the constitutional authority Congress has over the District government.
“They simply reinterpret this authority to give the District’s duly elected government more autonomy in managing its own affairs, so that members of Congress may remain focused on issues of national importance,” Fenty said.
Fenty said the District’s stability has proved it is worthy of both fiscal and legislative autonomy, and that it is costing both the District and Congress time and money to manage the District government under the current process. The District and local agencies must plan budgets a year in advance for Congress to approve them, Fenty said. General Counsel of the District of Columbia Brian Flowers said the District must wait 30 to 60 days to approve legislation, causing bills to expire or the District government to enact emergency or temporary legislation when Congress isn’t in session.
“It’s a case study of stupidity and redundancy in government,” Norton said of the current policies.
Under the bills, Congress would still have authority to intervene in the District government in the event of a crisis. Fenty said it is time for Congress to “put the District government in the driver’s seat and hand us the keys, while keeping [their] constitutional mandate to watch how well we’re driving.”
