D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray urged Council Chairman Kwame Brown and other city lawmakers Wednesday to approve a controversial plan to pay District workers for furlough days taken in 2011, a proposal that Gray and labor unions have championed. “I wish that we had already dealt with this,” Gray said. “But the chairman hopefully will bring it up again, and hopefully it will get enough votes.”SClBThat’s been a problem in the past: To date, lawmakers have defeated versions of the plan three times. SClBBut Brown told The Washington Examiner in a brief interview that he expects the council will reconsider the measure, which a council aide said will also include $5 million for affordable housing programs, on Tuesday.SClBThe vote could put an end to a months-long struggle that has pitted Gray against a restive council.
District leaders in 2011 ordered workers to take four furlough days as the city tried to close a $188 million shortfall, but the D.C. government ultimately posted a $240 million surplus.
The excess cash — and a subsequent, unexpected windfall in 2012 — prompted Gray to propose spending up to $22 million to pay workers for the furlough days.
Lawmakers repeatedly balked at the plan, though.
Some legislators, like at-large Councilman David Catania, worried about the derailment of other spending priorities, while others said they were concerned lawmakers were rushing the proposal.
When the council votes Tuesday, a new legislator will weigh in, which could help Gray notch a high-profile legislative victory.
Ward 5 Councilman Kenyan McDuffie, who was sworn in Wednesday, won a special election earlier this month with the backing of labor unions, which have aggressively lobbied city leaders to support the payments.
Political analysts have long said Gray could solidify his standing with union allies if he secures payments for the furlough days.
“The mayor is trying to carry labor’s water here,” Chuck Thies, who informally advised the Gray campaign, said earlier this month. “Gray is strengthened by this. … It demonstrates to labor that he’s willing to go to the mat for them.”
