Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser addressed City Council members on Wednesday afternoon after publishing the city’s fiscal 2025 budget, with budget cuts garnering strong reactions from council members. 

While balancing the budget, Bowser and her administration staff were dealing with a $4 billion deficit over the course of the next four years. In lieu of raising income taxes, Bowser proposed $500 million in budget cuts to city programs, such as the Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund, which costs the city $70 million annually. This program subsidizes the wages of caregivers and day care workers, but with it slashed, workers will have to return to earning significantly less.