Revised D.C. Budget Draft Hits Community Organizations Hard

Despite the weather, it's been quite the unpleasant weekend for local organizations in the wake of Mayor Fenty's newest 2010 budget revision, released late on Friday. Fenty cut approximately $12 million in earmarks for community nonprofits in this version, leaving the budget with a total of $8.3 million in grants for nonprofits -- a significant decrease from the $47 million that was handed out last year.

The Post notes that the budget revision will drastically affect the ability of organizations both large -- for instance, the National Council of Negro Women and the Phillips Collection -- and small in their attempts to provide services to Washington, D.C. residents. For example:

Michael Sessa, president of the Metro DC GLBT Community Center, was disappointed when he learned from a reporter that the mayor was proposing to give the group $200,000 instead of $500,000. The group planned to use the money to buy a building for its operations, which include condom distribution and treatment for substance abuse. Sessa said the smaller grant would force the center to rethink priorities..."We will not be able to purchase a building with $200,000," he said.

Ed Lazere, executive director of the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute, said that the District "might" institute a competitive bidding process for efforts that "are not as vital as others."

One wonders where certain services will land on the "vital" scale. What about homeless services, which is at a point where even a small reduction in funding would be devastating: unemployment is high, shelters are at capacity, and homeless are being frequently turned away due to waiting lists -- including a woman who died last month after being turned away for lack of space.

Obviously, the District is in rough financial waters. The Post quotes Councilmember Kwame Brown -- who supports the earmark eliminations -- as saying "[w]e have to make sure there are groups that are meeting core needs in the community." Of course, which of those core needs are more "vital" than others, well, that's yet to be sorted out.