Perspective: DC Should Enforce Budget Autonomy Law

Last March, DC Vote co-founder and Forest Hills resident Daniel Solomon urged us to vote “to take Congress’ hands out of our pockets.” And we voters overwhelmingly agreed that the District should control its own budget. Now, he says, DC’s next step should be to enforce the law:

by Daniel Solomon

Last month, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a legal opinion on the new DC budget autonomy law, adopted last year by 83 percent of voters in a referendum. GAO stated its opinion that the law exceeds the power given to the District under the Home Rule Law.

That’s one party’s opinion. Other respected lawyers disagree. Jon Bouker, a partner at Arent Fox, states:

[blockquote]”…GAO has no authority to declare a law that was duly enacted by the District and subject to the congressional review period null and void.”[/blockquote]

In other words, the GAO’s opinion is in no way binding upon the District. There are only two ways for the law to be nullified: by an Act of Congress, which has not acted to reject the law; or by a judge’s ruling in a lawsuit, and no suit has been filed.

Under these circumstances, DC should be preparing its budget under our newly-adopted rules, not planning to beg Congress to approve it.