In April, District residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of an amendment to the Home Rule Charter that would theoretically give D.C. control of spending its locally generated revenue without congressional interference. And while the amendment, which passed with 87 percent support, did not get immediately rejected by the Capitol Hill flyswatter that sometimes strikes down local legislation, it hasn’t gone totally unnoticed.

The House Appropriations Committee is preparing reports this week on various federal spending bills, including the one that pays for financial services and other functions, such as the federal funds that the District receives to pay for programs such as tuition assistance, court services, and Medicaid. And in their report, the committee members took note of the April referendum.

“The citizens of the District of Columbia have approved a referendum providing local funds budget autonomy beginning in fiscal year 2015,” the report reads. “The Committee considers the recent referendum in the District as an expression of the opinion of the residents, only, and without any authority to change or alter the existing relationship between Federal appropriations and the District.”

In other words, it’s nice that we all voted to give the District government control of the 70 percent of its $9.6 billion budget that is paid for by local revenue, but in Congress’ eyes, it’s nothing more than a feeling. The amendment, which would take effect in the 2015 fiscal year, remains officially unchallenged, which appears to be comforting to D.C. leaders, including some who initially resisted the measure.

“The language in the committee report does not, and will not, bar us from working with the Committee and leaders on the Hill to ensure that budget autonomy is implemented as quickly as possible,” Mayor Vince Gray said in a statement to The Washington Times. And a spokesman for Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) also says that she his grateful that her voting House colleagues have not yet challenged the amendment. Both Gray and Norton were skeptical of the budget autonomy amendment when it was first proposed and embraced by the D.C. Council, but later became supporters.

DC Vote, the voting rights organization that led the petition to get the amendment on the April 23 ballot, did not comment on the record on the latest twist in the measure’s fate.