Council Chairman Phil Mendelson and Members of the DC Council today took the next step in response to the impending federal shutdown, introducing emergency legislation declaring all District government personnel and operations as essential.

“Currently, the District is unfairly tethered to the federal appropriations process, meaning important local government services are placed in jeopardy by unrelated national budget squabbles,” Mendelson stated.  “An orderly society cannot function without government, as residents and businesses depend on government services.  Government, therefore, is ‘essential.’”

Despite approximately 98 percent of the District’s budget being derived from local revenue and federal grants available to other jurisdictions, despite over a billion dollars in reserve funds, and despite having adopted a balanced District budget over four months ago, the District is still being left by the potential lapse in appropriations, or “shutdown.”

The proposed emergency declares all Council employees as essential, creates a presumption that all Executive Branch employees are essential, and authorizes compensation to be paid during a lapse in appropriations out of the contingency cash reserve fund.

The Council will vote on the emergency at the October 1, 2013 Legislative Meeting.

 

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