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The D.C. Board of Elections today announced that it was putting a referendum on budget autonomy on the ballot for the April 23 special election. With the announcement, voters will be given the chance to vote on whether to amend the Home Rule Charter to allow the city more flexibility in spending its own money.

The brief decision released today offered no legal rationale for the move, though spokeswoman Agnes Moss said that the three-member board would explain its legal reasoning in an order to be released later this week.

The announcement comes in the wake of a contentious hearing yesterday at which D.C. Attorney General Irv Nathan insisted that the referendum would be illegal and that the board would have little option but to reject it outright.

The D.C. Council’s top lawyer, David Zvenyach, disagreed, saying that the board had no place in weighing the possible legality of the measure and would simply have to place it on the ballot. In questions, two members seemed to be leaning towards Nathan’s interpretation, though today’s news hints that they ultimately agreed with Zvenyach’s.

D.C. Vote, one of the organizations that pushed the referendum last year, said it was happy to hear the news. “The Board’s decision puts that people of the District at the forefront of our fight for control over our own local tax dollars,” said Communications Director James Jones. “A yes vote on Question 8 will free DC’s local tax dollars from a dysfunctional Congress. Our local tax dollars should not be held hostage by people we did not elect to serve.”