Photo by futureatlas.com

Because the state of some of D.C.’s laws wasn’t confusing enough, President Barack Obama has released his budget plan for the 2016 fiscal year, which, among many, many other things, include a sneaky provision to allow the District to carry out its pot and abortion laws.

Sure, it’s only the omission of a single word, but under the Obama administration budget, D.C. would be able to use its own budget to carry out legalizing small amounts of marijuana and provide abortions for low-income women. If you recall, the House Appropriations committee released its FY16 budget not too long ago and in it, strictly forbidding D.C. from using funds to carry out the controversial laws.

So how did Obama sneak this in? By adding the word “federal.” In the House Appropriations Committee rider, it explicitly says “none of the funds contained in this Act may be used to enact any law, rule, or regulation to legalize or otherwise reduce penalties associated with the possession, Controlled Substances Act or any tetrahydrocannabinols derivative for recreational purposes.”

But in Obama’s rider, it says “none of the Federal funds contained in this Act may be used to enact any law, rule, or regulation to legalize or otherwise reduce penalties associated with the possession, use, or distribution of any schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801 et seq.) or any tetrahydrocannabinols derivative for recreational purposes.”

See?! There it is, “Federal.” That means that, while the District can’t use any of the Federal funds to carry out Initiative 71, it can certainly use its own locally raised funds.

And it’s included again an rider that would prevent D.C. from using Federal funds to pay for a program that would provide abortions for low-income women.

Of course, you can expect Republicans to put up a fight. As Marijuana Majority chairman Tom Angell, who first noted the change in Obama’s language, points out “it remains to be seen what language will be included in the appropriations legislation that actually gets enacted into law, most likely later this year.”