A bill passed by the D.C. Council that will allow non-citizens to vote in local elections as soon as next year is now law, having survived a congressional review where Republicans sought to block the measure. Republicans in Congress have lambasted the bill as a “radical” step that would dilute the votes of U.S. citizens, and possibly allow foreign diplomats and agents to “sow chaos” in local elections.

While Republicans in the House did approve a resolution in February to overturn the bill, the Senate did not follow suit. Both chambers are required to act to block any bill approved by the council, and must do so within a 30-day window. The Senate’s review period of the bill officially ended on Tuesday night, allowing the bill to become law.

That the non-citizen voting bill survived congressional scrutiny is a welcome change for D.C., which last week suffered a stinging rebuke when the Senate overwhelmingly voted to block a bill that revised the city’s criminal code. The House approved a similar measure in February, and President Joe Biden has said he will not veto it.

Advocates of the bill to allow non-citizens to vote said that legal permanent residents and undocumented immigrants alike often work and pay taxes in D.C. and are impacted by local policies, and should thus have a say in who makes those policies. The idea of allowing them to cast votes in local elections has been floating around for decades, and follows the lead of a number of Maryland towns like Takoma Park that have long expanded the franchise beyond legal citizens. While the D.C. bill initially only included legal permanent residents, it was expanded to add undocumented immigrants. (Takoma Park and other Maryland jurisdictions that allow non-citizen voting do not make a distinction.)

“Despite House Republican attempts to interfere, the Local Resident Voting Rights Amendment Act became law. Our neighbors — who pay taxes, attend our schools, and contribute to the vibrancy of our communities — will now also have a say in who represents them in our local government,” said Councilmember Brianne Nadeau (D-Ward 1), who wrote the bill, in a statement.

And even while they did not succeed in blocking D.C.’s non-citizen voting measure, the GOP does have other tools to stop it, primarily by prohibiting the city from spending any money to implement the new law. (This tool, called a budget rider, has been used in the past to stop D.C. from legalizing medical marijuana sales, and more.)

City officials say it will cost roughly $1.6 million to create a new voter registry for non-citizens, who would then be allowed to cast ballots for local offices like mayor, attorney general, council, and Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners. Any non-citizen who has lived in D.C. for 30 days will be allowed to register and vote.