In his fiscal 2008 budget proposal, President Bush continues the federal government’s long history of conditioning the District’s outlay, from banning hypodermic needle programs to prohibiting the use of public dollars for voting rights lobbying.
The list of “general provisions,” a slate of riders three pages long in small type, is emblematic of the federal government’s power over D.C. affairs, which has been well established by the courts.
Limits are placed on a range of finances and statutes: The budget restricts who can use a government-owned car, prohibits marijuana legalization and bans any salary for the city’s shadow senators and representatives.
“No part of this appropriation shall be used for publicity or propaganda purposes or implementation of any policy including boycott designed to support or defeat legislation ending before the Congress or any State Legislature,” reads one rider.
The District has found its way around the continuing ban on the “use of public funds to promote a boycott or lobby for statehood or voting representation” by granting money to nonprofits such as DC Vote for “education” and “outreach” efforts.
That rider, however, is included again in the Bush budget, as is a ban on “any program of distributing sterile needles or syringes for thehypodermic injection of any illegal drug.”
