Via Shutterstock

Via Shutterstock

Today in why D.C. can’t have nice things: the House Oversight Committee advanced a bill that would nullify the city’s newly enacted budget autonomy.

To recap: Back in 2013, 83 percent of voters approved a referendum that gives the city the right to spend locally raised funds without Congressional approval. The case was tied up in court for years, with local government officials disagreeing about its legality. A judge eventually sided with Mayor Muriel Bowser and the D.C. Council, ruling in March that the District should be able to control its own damn money.

Not so fast, said perennial D.C. dream killers, otherwise known as the GOP. Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) introduced a bill last week that would repeal the Local Budget Autonomy Amendment Act. “All funds provided for the District of Columbia shall be appropriated on an annual fiscal year basis through the Federal appropriations process,” it reads.

Knowing that the House bill was likely to pass along party lines, the D.C. Council nonetheless began the process of approving the local budget this afternoon, unanimously passing it (including a revision of Bowser’s ambitious plan to close D.C. General) on first vote. “There’s nothing we can do about what might happen three months from now,” Chairman Phil Mendelson told WAMU.

Mendelson and the D.C. Council even took a break from their regular agenda to join Bowser, D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine, and D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton at a press conference protesting the GOP move.

“Budget autonomy was ratified by voters, upheld in the courts and without a doubt, is the law of the land,” Bowser said. “Today’s markup in the House further undermines the 680,000 residents who pay taxes, go to war, and make significant contributions to our great country.”

According to the Post:

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) supports the bill, which could go to the full House as early as next week. It’s unclear if it would be approved in the more closely divided Senate, but proponents could incorporate it into federal budget measures that must pass before the end of the year, possibly paralyzing some city spending.

Filed Under: budget autonomy, d.c. council, gop, statehood,