Elinor Hart

16 Bills introduced on September 12 in the House of Representatives threaten to roll back DC’s already limited self-government. This legislation will make our city less safe and less democratic. The two bills calling for treating teenagers who break the law to be treated as adults will not reduce crime. One lowers the age at which a youth can be considered an adult to 14. This law could have a profound negative impact on 14- and 15-year-olds. Adults convicted of felonies in the city are sent …

Continue Reading about House Advances 16 Bills Attacking Home Rule

National Guard troops and their Humvees have become an all too familiar sight on the Mall, around Union Station and Metro stops, and even at Nationals Park. President Trump's rationale for deploying the Guard here was his claim that DC has a crime emergency, even though according to the Justice Department, crime in the city is at a 30-year low. The cost of this deployment to US taxpayers is $1 million a day. Yet it will have minimal impact on crime in the nation's capital. National Guard members …

Continue Reading about Costly and Unwelcome Federal Mobilization in DC Should End

The DC government is facing almost $1 billion in cuts to vital services because Congress has failed to honor the District of Columbia’s right to the money it collects from DC residents and businesses. The House of Representatives can and should restore these funds to DC by passing the D.C. Local Funds Act, which the Senate passed on March 14.  While passing the D.C. Local Funds Act will give DC access to the urgently needed revenue in its FY25 budget, District of Columbia leaders …

Continue Reading about DC Needs Congress to Act

Bills to repeal DC’s Home Rule government were introduced in the House and the Senate at the beginning of the 119th Congress. This legislation would eliminate the city’s mayor, council, and attorney general and turn our nation’s capital into a colony of non-voting residents. The reasoning behind these bills, introduced by Senator Mike Lee of Utah and Representative Andy Ogles of Tennessee, is unclear. Why would Congress take on the burden of running DC when it so often struggles with the basic …

Continue Reading about Congress Threatens To Make DC A Voteless Colony