What We’ve Won: FY2014 Budget Run-Down

The following is cross-posted from the Fair Budget Coalition

 

Congratulations, everyone! We have HUGE victories to celebrate this week! On Wednesday, May 22nd the Council held their first vote on the budget, passing the Budget Request Act into law. We are thrilled to announce that we won $128 million for the programs that low income and no income DC residents need! (Including $108 million in NEW investments.) We also won important policy changes that strengthen human rights in DC.

We want to recognize the very many different kinds of contributions each of you made in this budget season that resulted in all that we won. Thank you. Whether you sent emails, tweeted, made phone calls, helped us plan, painted props, lobbied Council members, participated in actions or helped in any other way, this victory is yours.

Below is the full scope of what, in collaboration with our members, supporters and allies, we fought for and won this year. As you well know, this budget does not end poverty, homelessness or hunger. There are many critical programs that remain badly damaged after the Recession and still need our advocacy and organizing, and at the end of this email we’ve outlined where we must continue the fight. But we have all earned a moment to recognize the incredible victories we’ve accomplished this year and to celebrate them.

 WHAT WE’VE WON

 RIGHT TO HOUSING:

• $63 million increase for the Housing Production Trust Fund (plus $20 million to end transfers from the Trust Fund to pay for the Local Rent Supplement program)
• $5 million for the project/sponsor-based Local Rent Supplement program to develop affordable housing for people with very low incomes
• $1.75 million for tenant-based Local Rent Supplement program, allowing 120 additional families to get affordable housing vouchers
• $2.6 million to help create a centralized affordable housing database
• $2.2 million for Permanent Supportive Housing
• $1 million for Emergency Rental Assistance plus $500,000 to start a pilot program for individuals
• $1 million for the Rapid Re-Housing program plus $400,000 to start a pilot program for individuals
• $1 million for the Home Purchase Assistance program
• $1.5 million for homeless youth shelter/housing programs
• $486,000 for shelter beds for homeless LGBTQ youth

RIGHT TO INCOME: 

• $752,000 to implement the Workplace Fraud Act, strengthening protections for workers
• $500,000 to give Interim Disability Assistance (IDA) to an additional 150 DC residents with disabilities
• $4 million to fund exemptions that give families a break from the 60-month time limit on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits for issues including domestic violence, illness, enrollment in an education or job training program, and caring for a family member with a disability, among others.
• Slowed down the timing of TANF benefit reductions for families with barriers to work

RIGHT TO HEALTH:

• $9 million to strengthen mental health reimbursement rates, averting lay-offs and reductions in mental health services

RIGHT TO SAFETY:

• $3 million for housing for victims of domestic violence
• $5 million increase for services that support domestic violence victims and victims of crime
• $5 million increase to the Office on Aging, including $3.5 million in operating funds and $1.5 million in capital funds

FAIR TAXATION:

• Implemented the Schedule H Property Tax Relief Act of 2012

POLICY CHANGES:

• Amendments to the Homeless Services Reform Act (that would make it harder for people to get into shelters and easier to kick them out) were removed from the budget. The amendments will be given their own hearing which will allow public input and further examination of the amendments’ potential impact.
• Language was added to the Budget Support Act that strengthens wage and hour enforcement procedures.
• A requirement that when a family stops using an affordable housing voucher, that voucher will be re-issued to another family. (The Mayor’s administration had been allowing those vouchers to remain unused until this legislation.)

THE FIGHT CONTINUES:

 As we anticipate the revenue forecast in June that will reveal what new money DC has available, we must make sure the Council knows that we still need:

• $8.5 million for the Local Rent Supplement Program to move the 300 families out of DC General and help end homelessness for seniors and people living with HIV/AIDS
• $11.3 million for Permanent Supportive Housing to help end homelessness for chronically homeless seniors and people living with HIV/AIDS
• $20 million (over 4 years) for childcare subsidies
• $3.4 million for the Interim Disability Assistance program
• $5 million for “Opportunity Youth” program
• $4 million more for Adult and Family Education
• Restore the out-of-state bonds tax for bond holders with very high incomes in order to prevent using taxpayer money for what is effectively being used as a tax shelter for millionaires.
• Reform the income tax filing rules for two-income households to ensure that all DC households with income above $350,000 pay the new rate of 8.95%.
• Eliminate the 2015 sunset date for the 2011 income tax increase on income above $350,000 and make the 8.95% rate permanent.
• Paid sick leave for restaurant workers
• $5.1 million increase in youth homelessness funding
• $1.5 million to fully fund TANF time limit exemptions for parents with infants (under 1 year old)

 

Budget Vote Tomorrow: All Eyes on Funding for Housing, TANF

Tomorrow, the DC Council’s Committee of the Whole will convene to vote on the FY14 Budget.Thanks to all of you who reached out to your Councilmembers, the Human Services Committee last Monday voted unanimously to pull the Homeless Services Reform Act amendments from the Budget Support Act! Councilmember Jim Graham introduced the amendments as a separate bill on May 7^th and a hearing on the amendments has been scheduled for early June. While this is certainly a victory for DC residents, the fight’s not over yet. Please continue to check this blog for updates regarding the amendments.

It remains to be seen if the other priorities highlighted by advocates and community members will get much needed funding in FY14.

During committee mark-ups, Councilmember Cheh identified money in her Committee on Transportation and the Environment to transfer to Human Services, specifically $500,000 to expand the caseload of the Interim Disability Assistance Program, $486,000 to the Permanent Supportive Housing program to help fund housing assistance for chronically homeless seniors, and $486,000 to assist LGBTQ homeless youth.

We commend Councilmember Cheh for identifying these funds! Unfortunately, they fall far short of the current need. With the healthiest budget it has had in years, the District is in a prime position to make much needed investments in housing programs like the tenant-based Local Rent Supplement program and the Permanent Supportive Housing program, in order to end homelessness for seniors, for people with HIV/AIDS, and for a significant number of youth and homeless families. This would enable the Department of Human Services to serve homeless families year-round rather than just on hypothermic nights as is currently the policy.

We also look to the Council to find modest additional funding to create time limit exemptions for certain families who receive Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (“TANF”).

We want to thank Councilmember Jim Graham and the Committee on Human Services for identifying $4.09 million to fund the three largest categories of exemptions from TANF time limits for families facing particular hardships. The exemptions the Committee funded include the following categories of families who have special challenges to finding and maintaining employment: 1) domestic violence survivors; 2) grandparents caring for grandchildren; and 3) parents caring for a child under 12 months.

However, several hardship exemptions that passed the Council last year but were not funded in FY 13 still require funding. Just $1.5 is needed to fund crucial hardship exemptions for: 1) parents caring for a child or other family member with a disability; 2) teen parents enrolled in high school or a GED program; and 2) parents enrolled in postsecondary education or DOES-approved job training program.

Now is the time to do the right thing and protect vulnerable families by funding all of the TANF exemptions the Council passed last year. The enactment of hardship exemptions from time limits would align DC with the vast majority of other states and will better match DC’s work requirement exemptions with our time limit policy. By having the clock run only when a parent is expected to be in training or looking for work, the District can give families the time they need to successfully address personal hardships and transition into self-sufficiency. We all support families moving from welfare to work – let’s ensure that when they do so, they are able to support themselves and their children.

We encourage the Council to identify the $1.5 million necessary to give all DC families a fighting chance.

Please join us at the Budget Vote tomorrow morning at 10am in the Wilson Building (1350 Pennsylvania Ave NW). Let’s pack the room and show our city leaders we’re invested in their decisions.

Update, 10:30 pm: The Council’s budget office released the latest budget draft earlier this evening, which includes, in addition to the funds for housing mentioned above: $1.75 million for the Permanent Supportive Housing Program, $1.75 million for the tenant-based Local Rent Supplement Program, $500,000 for the Emergency Rental Assistance Program to serve individuals, and $400, 000 to the Rapid-Rehousing program to serve homeless individuals.

The draft budget also includes funding for six of the seven TANF exemptions.

Tenant Town Hall Recap: No More Mold

In a standing room only auditorium at the District’s All Souls Unitarian Church Saturday, District residents met with DC housing agencies, legal service providers and non-profit organizations for the 6^th Annual Tenant Town Hall, where residents voiced their demands for affordable, safe and healthy housing.

At the top of the priority list: No more mold! Residents expressed outrage for the lack of responsiveness on the part of both landlords and the DC government to ensure mold-free living. Currently, District housing inspectors, and surprisingly inspectors across the country, cannot cite landlords for mold, only “dampness,” which does not trigger the appropriate remedy for the problem. Residents claimed that when they reported mold issues in the past, property managers simply masked the spores with a fresh coat of paint. And because management is not resolving the issue at its root, the mold reappears within weeks.

In response to the residents’ claims, the DC Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs clarified that it is not certified to deal with mold and “can only regulate within the confines of the law.” Nonetheless, a department representative confirmed that the agency is “always willing to sit down and collaborate [with other agencies to combat the problem].”

DC residents and advocates demanded more of the government’s leaders and agencies and encouraged them to act now to implement effective programs that do not just fix the aesthetics, but get to the underlying problems that feed the mold. Left untreated, some molds can cause serious health problems, especially for children, the elderly and those with other respiratory conditions.

Attendees also discussed the importance of affordable housing in the District and encouraged DC councilmembers to continue to fund these important programs in its upcoming FY 2014 budget vote this week.  And while residents are aware of the Mayor’s long-term plan to increase the number of affordable housing units, they also highlighted the critical importance of housing strategies that place families and individuals in homes now.

DC Councilmembers and agency leaders in attendance included: Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham, Housing Authority Executive Director Adrianne Todman, DC Department of Housing and Community Development Director Michael Kelly and the DC Office of the Tenant Advocate Chief Johanna Shreve.

The Latino Economic Development Center and the Housing for All Campaign organized the Town Hall with several participating organizations.

Organizers are planning a July 1 meeting to kick off a new campaign to combat mold issues in the District.  The Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless plans to participate in this effort and continue advocating for stronger health and housing code protections for D.C. tenants.  We’ll keep you posted as the details unfold.

DC Residents Fill City Hall Outside of Closed-Door Budget Negotiations

Yesterday, over 100 DC residents gathered at the Wilson Building for the Fair Budget Coalition’s “One City Needs” Action.  Dozens of residents living in poverty, service providers, and advocates stood together outside the closed-door budget negotiations being held by the DC Council to deliver one clear message to city leaders: “Prioritize funding for programs that address human needs!”

Chairman Phil Mendelson, Councilmember Jim Graham (who also co-sponsored the event), and Councilmember Muriel Bowser all left the budget meeting to address the crowd. They affirmed the urgent need for affordable housing, financial assistance for needy families and people with disabilities, and other critically underfunded programs. Speaking on affordable housing programs, Councilmember Bowser told the crowd, “If we want to maintain diversity in our city, we have to protect that.”

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Fair Budget members didn’t show up empty handed. Councilmembers were presented with bowls of granola bars, bananas, and apples that sported stickers with phrases like, “Invest in ‘Core’ Needs,” (on the apples) and “Final Ap‘peel.’ Invest in Human Needs.” (on the bananas). Chan Sinclair, a mother currently staying in the DC General shelter, hand-delivered Mother’s Day cards that children at the shelter had made for each of their city leaders, along with letters from some of the older children asking Councilmembers to help them get housing. Councilmembers were also given small hand-painted houses that were decorated by the kids at the shelter, a reminder to city leaders that many DC children are desperately in need of homes. (Click here to send Councilmembers a message if you agree!)

The purpose of the action was to highlight the needs of DC residents who are still struggling to recover from the recession, even as the District finds itself flush with money. Members of the Coalition also visited Councilmember offices to educate staff members on the issues facing impoverished residents and to ask for their bosses’ support in helping to remove the barriers that led DC to have the widest income gap in the nation. 

Among the needs highlighted were investments in housing programs to serve families, youth, seniors, and residents with HIV/AIDS; investments in adult education programs that would lead to livable wages; increases to TANF to implement reasonable and customary exemptions from time limits for families facing hardships; money for childcare subsidies that would allow parents the opportunity to get back to work; increases in funding to the Interim Disability Assistance Program to provide income for hundreds of disabled residents; and increases to emergency rental assistance to prevent homelessness for hundreds of more households. 

The fight’s not over yet, but we’re hopeful that Councilmembers heard their constituents loud and clear and that they will invest in the programs that offer residents a chance at stabilizing and sharing in the District’s growing wealth.

The first vote on the FY2014 Budget will take place on May 22^nd. For more information on ways you can get involved, please contact Janelle Treibitz at Janelle@fairbudget.org or 202-328-5513.

*Cross-posted from the Fair Budget Coalition’s blog

A Mother’s Day Wish From Kids To DC Council: “Please help my mom and me get a home”

Mother’s Day reminds us of how important safe, stable housing is for the healthy and happy development of children. Enjoy the following gallery of Mother’s Day cards that kids who live in DC General Shelter made for their city leaders through the Homeless Children’s Playtime Project, and please take a moment to ask your city leaders  to invest in affordable housing so that kids in DC shelters will finally have homes. All it takes is one click!

We wish you and yours a safe and happy Mother’s Day.