A new year might mean a new set of problems for the city, but one thing that won’t be an issue anymore: Control over our own budget.

Last April, District voters overwhelming approved a ballot referendum to amend the District’s Home Rule Charter and finally claim budget autonomy. Now that 2014 is here, that law is now in effect. But what does that mean, exactly? Well, it means that the D.C. government no longer has to get Congressional approval to spend local tax dollars. For example, even though the D.C. government stayed open during the federal government shutdown with its own money, it technically wasn’t supposed to, without federal approval. Had the shutdown happened a year later, the D.C. government would’ve stayed open and it wouldn’t have been an act of defiance. That D.C. now has budget autonomy means we’re one step closer to having the same rights as any state.

“This is a milestone in our fight for self-determination that shows the power of the people still means something,”DC Vote Executive Director Kimberly Perry said in a release. “The new law changes an illogical budget arrangement with Congress that allowed partisan battles at the federal level to prevent the District from spending local tax revenues on critical needs. Our elected D.C. leaders and residents deserve credit for moving to rescind this unjust process.”

The referendum won 83 percent support with D.C. voters last April, which is a huge margin, but also begs the question: Who the hell were those 12.28 percent who voted against it?