D.C. hopeful of avoiding $1.1 billion budget cuts after Senate's save
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Crisis, almost averted: D.C. is expected to avoid $1.1 billion in sudden cuts after last-minute heroics in the Senate on Friday.
Why it matters: Mayor Muriel Bowser convinced the Senate to pass a bill that would restore the city's current budget, after the chamber approved a federal funding bill that same day that treated D.C. as a federal agency, requiring immediate cuts.
State of play: The bill-to-save-D.C. still needs approval from the House. It has good odds: The bipartisan bill's coauthor, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), said on Friday that President Trump and House Appropriations Committee chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) voiced their support.
- But the city is in limbo until the bill officially clears Congress and is signed by the president.
- That's because the funding bill that treats D.C. as a federal agency while keeping the government open for the next six months is now in effect.
Mayor Bowser will hold a press conference at noon on the topic. Joining her will include the city's independent chief financial officer Glen Lee, who has final say over the city's spending.
Catch up fast: If the House doesn't act, D.C. will have to revert back to the previous fiscal year's funding levels — a reduction that officials have warned would affect police, schools, and other departments.
- "Being forced to cut police officers, teachers, bus/rail service, and first responders would contravene the Trump Administration's vision of making D.C. a world class national capital," the Bowser administration told Congress last week.
The budget cuts would also require eliminating about $600 million worth of D.C. development projects included in the city's capital improvement plan before 2029, reports the Washington Business Journal (WBJ).
- While the D.C. Council Budget Director Jennifer Budoff told WBJ that it hasn't yet been determined which projects could be affected, projects in the plan include Capital One Arena's renovation and the redevelopment of the St. Elizabeths East campus and Poplar Point.
Also at risk: Bowser's dream of bringing the Commanders back to a revamped RFK Stadium, reports the Washington Post.