Photo by lightboxdc
When President Obama signs legislation today reviving the Violence Against Women Act, the District of Columbia—at least in the eyes of that law—will be treated as a state.
The act, first passed in 1994, was allowed to expire last year after the Republican majority in the House of Representatives resisted passing an extension bill that would have expanded the law to cover gay, lesbian, and transgender victims of domestic violence, as well as Native Americans and undocumented immigrants.
Under the provisions of the bill set to be signed today, each state is in line to receive 1.5 percent of the act’s total funding. That now includes the District, after some maneuvering by Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.). Previously, D.C. received just one-quarter of one percent of the Violence Against Women Act’s funding, the same as most territories. (Puerto Rico also saw its share of funding increased.)
“A new VAWA and particularly new and equal D.C. funding are important wins for the District,” Norton said in a news release last week.
The law, which was authored by Joe Biden, then a senator from Delaware, authorizes funding for the prosecution of domestic violence cases, applies mandatory minimum sentences to those convicted, and funds assistance services for victims. Although Republican-dominated Congresses reauthorized it in 2000 and 2005, it was allowed to expire last year over some members’ objections to expanding the law’s scope.
But after realizing that not funding anti-domestic violence programs makes for terrible politics, House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) called for a vote on the bill last week. It passed on a vote of 286-138, with 87 Republicans voting in favor of reauthorizing the act, including its increased measures.
Obama is scheduled to sign the bill at 1:55 p.m.
Of course, with the federal government having entered a period of austerity with across-the-board budget sequestration taking effect, D.C. stands to lose $13,000 in federal funding to help victims of domestic violence.
