Category: District of Columbia

D.C. – Fair Budget Coalition’s Annual Budget Recommendations 2009

D.C. – Fair Budget Coalition’s Annual Budget Recommendations 2009

The Fair Budget Coalition fights for a just and inclusive District of Columbia through advocacy and organizing and by advancing budget and public policy initiatives which reflect the inter-dependency of the District’s community and economic development systems. Organized in 1994, Fair Budget is a coalition of grassroots community groups, human service providers, advocates, faith organizations, and concerned community members.

Statement of Principles to Guide Decisions on D.C. Budget

The District of Columbia faces severe economic challenges. Declining revenues have already led to the adoption of significant budget cuts in the Fiscal Year 2009 budget. The cuts affect a wide range of programs, including parks, public safety, and transportation. However, they will fall especially hard on low-income families due to reduced funding for affordable housing, homeless services, health care, and income supports.

Diverse Coalition Rallies Around Fiscal Crisis

As the District prepares for another possible revenue shortfall announcement, a broad-based coalition of DC businesses, faith-based groups, nonprofits, labor, and advocacy groups released a joint “Statement of Principles,” calling on the Mayor and DC Council to “partner with concerned citizens to identify a prudent and balanced approach to managing the city’s fiscal crisis.”

DC Council Lauded for Action on Affordable Housing Law

On October 21, the D.C. Council voted unanimously to ensure that the long delayed Inclusionary Zoning affordable housing law is implemented. Championed by Chairman Vincent Gray and Councilmember Jim Graham, the bill fully reflects the position of the Campaign for Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning, which has repeatedly requested implementation by the Mayor since original legislation was approved in December 2006.

DC: Proposed Changes to Parking Regulations

At the time that our city instituted its zoning code in 1958, urban planners of the era, including Harold Lewis, who wrote the new zoning plan for the city, envisioned a very different future. The Lewis plan cited the need to require off-street parking for all new development hoping for“…the eventual removal of curb parking and the subsequent freeing of the traffic arteries.”