Council will be back in session tomorrow, and we will see a flurry of activity as we approach the end of the two-year Council Period in December. Any bills that don’t make it all the way through the process by the end of the year will go away for good, unless a Councilmember introduces a similar one next Council Period. Legislative meeting agendas will be full as Councilmembers attempt to push legislation over the finish line. Because two votes are required two weeks apart on most legislation, it means that legislation more or less has to go through the Committee process by the end of November.
Here’s what I will be working on this fall:
District finances: On October 16, the Committee of the Whole will hold a hearing on several of my bills on the topic of tax and revenue. The wealth proceeds tax would implement a small surtax on passive income (capital gains and some other investments that require no work by the investor) on the wealthiest of families, making $500K or more. My Revenue Stabilization and Land Value Assessment Act changes the District’s property tax billing and payment cycle from twice a year to quarterly to help address cash flow issues raised by the Chief Financial Officer and enables future consideration of a land value tax by ensuring accurate land value assessment. The hearing will also consider my legislation to establish a permanent Tax and Revenue Commission.
Having now worked on 12 annual budgets, I believe that residents of the District deserve a more just tax system and social safety net, and we all deserve a better way of doing business. Each of these bills help to get us there.
Our communities: My Neighborhood Management Authority Act creates a framework for safe and vibrant communities on a hyper-local level. An NMA established by this bill would provide enhancements to clean and safe programs, support businesses and cultural destinations, maintain public spaces, manage public assets, and would help coordinate D.C. government services for maximum efficiency. The legislation establishes a Neighborhood Management Authority for Columbia Heights and allows for one in the U St. Corridor.
This bill will receive a hearing on September 24.
The environment: The Bottle Bill would remove hundreds of millions of bottles from the District’s streets and rivers by requiring a bottle and can deposit of 10 cents, which would be reimbursed when customers bring back empty containers. In states that already have similar programs, the cost of beverages has not increased. The Committee on Transportation and the Environment held a markup on the bill on July 9, and we expect it to receive a markup and a full Council vote in the coming months.
Affordable housing: The Housing Production Omnibus Act of 2026, introduced by me and Councilmember Robert White, brings several types of housing financing into one fund, creating a robust mechanism for funding new affordable housing, preserving existing affordable housing, helping tenants purchase their buildings, bolstering District government purchase of land for housing, and subsidizing deeply affordable housing. The Fair Share Housing Act would establish clear, localized housing targets – especially for affordable housing units, an important signal of the District’s ambitions and an invitation for new investment.
The Housing Committee held a hearing on both bills at the end of March, and my team and I look forward to supporting Councilmember White and his team as they make adjustments for markup and passage this fall.
Committee work: I will introduce major legislation to give vehicle-for-hire operators and customers a rational, modern code—replacing the hodgepodge of out of date and in many cases irrelevant provisions in our current code. This work is a follow-up to our early summer roundtable on the State of the For-Hire Industry, as well as four years of oversight activity and enforcement actions against Empower’s illegally operating ride-hailing business. The Committee will accept a report following up on that roundtable tomorrow, including analysis of Empower’s activities and recommendations on how to stop its dangerous business activity once and for all.
The Committee will mark up bills on strategic parking enforcement to improve parking enforcement in hot spots and congested areas and data privacy to establish clear limits on government agencies’ use and distribution of residents’ personally identifiable or sensitive information, while maintaining flexibility to conduct necessary government activities and use data in innovative but safe ways.
Legislation to improve public transparency into contracting and procurement and to make technical changes to ABCA’s noise complaint process are also in the works.
As always, I am committed to doing this work in partnership with you. I welcome your input on these bills and others that are moving through the Council this fall. I encourage you to find out about upcoming hearings and sign up to testify.