Mayor Adrian Fenty’s proposal to fill a $187 million shortfall should be in the D.C. Council’s hands very soon — it didn’t come through on Monday as expected. But when the slashing is done, who will bear the burden of carrying the cutting room scraps through history?
There’s no rule that requires the council to deal with the city’s budget woes between now and the end of the year. While delaying certainly wouldn’t help, the council could sit tight until Vince Gray is in the mayor’s seat and Kwame Brown is Council Chairman. It’s just another six weeks and not much is likely to change.
There’s likely two reasons for Gray’s push to get it done now. On the practical side, the longer the city waits to make the necessary cuts, the less room there will be to maneuver. But again, six weeks won’t likely change much. Also, if Gray can get through the necessary deep cuts, he won’t have to carry the burden of the tough decisions on the back of his administration. It’ll belong to Fenty.
Back in October, Gray said he wanted to not only deal with the cuts for the current 2011 fiscal year, but also the $345 million shortfall the District will likely face for the 2012 fiscal year that starts on Oct. 1.
But that was when he also hoped to have Fenty’s budget proposal by the first week of November. There’s no time for the council to handle all those cuts now. It’ll have to stick to just the current fiscal year and Gray will have to take full responsibility for the slashing that will likely happen next year.
By not moving as quickly as Gray would have liked, Fenty sneaks by with a little less historical baggage. This will help him as he moves to shape the public image of his administration.
The result is that both Gray and Fenty will have to carry the burden of the inevitable cuts.
