Councilmember Nadeau’s remarks on the First Reading of the FY 2026 Budget

This year, we were handed a budget that:

• Took money, yet again, from the Pay Equity Fund for teachers and wellness money for educators; 
• Failed to provide adequate funding for Alliance;
• Failed to provide sufficient funds for individuals and families experiencing homelessness; 
• Removed funding for community violence prevention; 
• Eliminated the child tax credit; and
• Made many more cuts in many more places. 

And yet, this Council, working together, was able to make some real improvements and introduce much-needed programs and services that impact residents’ lives. 

I want to thank each and every Committee Chair for their initial contributions, as well as the Chairman for putting a budget forward today that restores a significant number of gaps. 

The Council’s budget: 

• Restores some of the funding for the Emergency Rental Assistance, Permanent Supportive Housing for families, and substance use disorder funding, which includes highly successful programs in Ward 1; 
• Funds for home visiting for expectant parents;
• Invests in road safety, funding the STEER Act and fraudulent tags legislation, allowing for the towing of dangerous vehicles and vehicles with fake license plates; I’m also looking forward to implementation of the PLAZA Act to activate more pedestrian zones in our roadways.
• Takes care of workers, including education workers: pay equity, educator wellness, and now also protects restaurant workers by postponing what would have been a damaging I-82 repeal;
• Preserves programs that reduce waste and improve environment: more composting, more money for Anacostia River cleanup; Setting the stage, I hope, for the next major piece of environmental legislation – beverage container deposit program to remove millions of bottles and cans from Anacostia River, our streets, and neighborhoods.
• And we’ve managed to protect and expand investments in Ward 1, including the Bancroft Annex, funds for Rosemount Early Childhood Center, funds for Senior Villages in Mt. Pleasant, Vida Center, various parks and plazas, and support for the GALA, Lincoln, and Howard Theatres. 

These and many other improvements to the budget are the result of a team effort – my colleagues on the Council, as well as committee, other Council staff, and of course the Budget Office. Working together early and often and listening to each other is what has made this possible. 

But this budget is not complete!

I have a number of concerns that I hope to address with colleagues between now and second reading. 

• While the the Health Committee did a lot to restore cuts to Alliance that had taken us years to reverse in the past, there is still inadequate funding to retain people’s benefits.

• I’m glad to see Permanent Supportive Housing for families, but we need to address Permanent Supportive Housing for individuals.

• Right now, the budget does not include adequate resources for people living outside. 

• Not enough funding for community violence prevention. 

• We need to restore the child tax credit and ERAP fully.

• I’m thankful for my colleagues’ support today on ranked choice voting, but we should pursue full funding for Initiative 83. 

These are all significant needs. 

For years, we have known that we need to stabilize revenue so that it doesn’t fluctuate in good times and bad. For years, we waited for the Tax and Revenue Commission to complete its work and make recommendations – recommendations that never came. 

This means we are well overdue for substantive and structural changes to the District’s revenues: to broaden the tax base, encourage business growth, assess the impact of fines and fees, and increase transparency in the tax code. This is the only way we’re going to make rational and responsible reforms that ensure we can meet the needs of the District and its residents and distribute the burden equitably. I hope that between now and second reading we can continue that conversation. 

I look forward to working with colleagues and hearing from residents in the coming days so that we can ensure the FY26 budget closes out in a way that meets our obligation to the residents of the District.