Photo by ep_jhu

Good morning, Washington. All eyes are on the John A. Wilson Building this morning, as the D.C. Council gets set to vote today on the hotly debated 2011 budget. There are plenty of preview stories from which to choose. Much about how the city’s legislators will attempt to close a deficit of more than $500 million has been hashed out at this point, but the fate of several key proposals remain uncertain.

Soda Tax 2.0: While Mary Cheh’s 1-cent per ounce of soda tax has been effectively scuttled, D.C. Wire reports that Council Chair Vincent Gray is set to propose an alternative — applying the city’s 6 percent sales tax to sugary beverages. The move would generate an estimated $8 million, enough to fund the Healthy Schools initiative, plus a little extra. This one seems much more politically palpable. “The current proposal would add about 10 to 12 cents on the bottle of a two-liter of soda. Cheh’s initial proposal would have increased the cost of a two-liter by about 67 cents.”

Other Taxes: It’s looking like the council will take up Harry Thomas, Jr.’s commuter tax for D.C. government employees, though there will certainly have to be some discussion about changing the city’s charter in order to get anything like that in place. We also expect to see protesters from Save Our Safety Net all over city hall today, as they wait to see whether a measure introducing income tax increases for the wealthy will in fact be introduced.

Red Line Delays After Equipment Derailment: A piece of track equipment called a “Petibone” derailed near Union Station early this morning, damaging a section of track and leading to major delays during the rush hour. NBCWashington.com reports that trains were single-tracking between Judiciary Square and New York Ave-Florida Ave-Gallaudet, but full service was restored at about 8:15 a.m.

Briefly Noted: Police chase ends in crash and shooting in SE … Gaithersburg man shows handgun, shoots 20-year-old … McKenzie-Gude friend hopes to wipe his record clean.

This Day in DCist: In 2009, the Nationals continued to have problems with spelling.