The D.C. Council, led by its chairman, Vincent Gray, approved last week a fiscal 2010 budget and financial plan that cuts spending but raises taxes. Some legislators, after the vote, portrayed themselves as superheroes, saving the poor and preventing catastrophe.
Members should be applauded for making some smart budget decisions. For example, they chose not to use the city’s cash reserves — a proposal made by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty. They also voted to eliminate all earmarks; that action came as the council’s grant making to nonprofit organizations is being investigated by federal authorities, according to The Examiner’s Bill Myers. The council also snatched back other spending increases it had inserted into the mayor’s original budget plan submitted earlier this year.
But the across-the-board budget cutting approach and the reliance on potentially harmful tax increases mean the legislature rejected the opportunity to right-size government, focusing on critical, essential services and programs while tossing the unnecessary or frivolous.
The budget is more than a spreadsheet. It’s a policy document, as former Mayor Anthony A. Williams asserted. Where a government spends its money is a clear statement of the community’s values and priorities.
What does it say about the District, for example, that Gray’s council chose preserving the prerogatives of elected officials over the needs of public school children?
The legislature reduced by 50 percent the number of children who can be served in summer school next year. It also voted against increasing, as planned, the per-pupil funding for District students.
But it approved funds for the State Board of Education to hire additional personnel and gave the nine-member panel procurement authority. Why? How much staff does it really need? What does it need to procure?
Should the city use its resources on adults whose prime responsibility is offering their opinions?
The council also decided not to spend local money on hiring police officers; it chose instead to rely on federal funds. But isn’t law enforcement one of the critical functions of government? What happens to the city’s public safety net if Congress decides to cut spending in this area?
As it took the ax to public safety, the council approved the continued operation of the Office of Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs and the Office of Veteran Affairs. A cogent argument can be made for the retention of the latter. The former is a political decision and a waste of money. Moreover, it encourages balkanization of District communities. Whatever happened to Gray’s “One Washington” campaign slogan?
It’s true the council was under enormous pressure and time constraints. It probably did the best it could. But when members and the mayor begin conversations about fiscal 2011, they may want to answer the question “What is government’s role?”
Even when the recession ends, the District government cannot and should not try to be all things to all people.
Jonetta Rose Barras, hosts of WPFW’s “D.C. Politics With Jonetta,” can be reached at [email protected].
