Norton Bill Gets House Approval for Mid-Year D.C. Budget Autonomy Expected Also to Pass the Senate
NORTON BILL GETS HOUSE APPROVAL FOR MID-YEAR D.C. BUDGET AUTONOMY EXPECTED ALSO TO PASS THE SENATE
Washington, DCCongresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) got a major budget autonomy provision passed last night as part of the D.C. Omnibus Authorization Act of 2005, sponsored by Norton and Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis (R-VA). The bill is a collection of provisions that have been approved or passed by the District, but must come to Congress before becoming law. Among several important provisions in the bill, Norton said that the most important by far is a provision she has long sought for the District to spend local funds without coming back to Congress for approval through the congressional mid-year supplemental appropriations process. The bill also includes many other vital provisions, including greater city control of reserve funds and a section strengthening the chief financial officer, as approved by the Council.
Norton said, "It is impossible to overestimate the hardship to this or any city of being unable to carry on normal business and engage in fiscal transactions--from spending funds in the bank for vital city needs to floating baseball stadium bonds-- without coming to Congress," Norton said. "Budget autonomy from the congressional supplemental process essentially enacts part of the D.C. Budget Autonomy Act that Chairman Davis and I have introduced to give the District greater freedom from the annual congressional appropriations process that redundantly requires the District's balanced budget to come to the Congress before it becomes effective." Norton expects the Davis-Norton Budget Autonomy bill to pass during the congressional session continuing next year.
Along with the mid-year budget autonomy provision, two other sections standout. The bill allows the District far greater use of emergency and contingency reserve funds (up to 50%), with specific procedures for reimbursement. Norton said that the District's sound fiscal practices and unique congressional limitations not found anywhere else in the country, have led to a reserve fund "that would be the envy of most jurisdictions." In the meantime, Norton said, "residents watch the neglect of basic services while the District grows an ever larger reserve fund that cannot be tapped. There is special outrage that many of our children attend dilapidated public schools, some as old as I am and that I remember well when I was in school here as a child."
The bill also gives the District's chief financial officer a term and incorporates other features, strengthening the office that were approved by the Council several years ago, confirms the CFO's personnel and procurement authority, and preserves the collective bargaining rights of CFO employees. Norton, who managed the bill on the floor last night, offered a statement that explained the bill's major features. Her statement follows.
http://www.norton.house.gov/issues2.cfm?id=11460