COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE

1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20004

 

             

TO:                  Nyasha Smith, Secretary to the Council

              

FROM:            Phil Mendelson, Chairman

                                                     

DATE:             October 3, 2019

 

                               

               This memorandum is to request that the following measures be placed on the agenda for the October 8, 2019 Legislative Meeting:

 

§  Wells School Designation and Master Facilities Plan Disapproval Congressional Review Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2019

§  Wells School Designation and Master Facilities Plan Disapproval Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2019

 

 

               Bill 23-278, the “Wells School Designation and Master Facilities Plan Disapproval Emergency Amendment Act of 2019” was adopted by the Council on July 9, 2019 (D.C. Act 23-108) and will expire on October 28, 2019.  Bill 23-216, the permanent version of the same measure, was adopted on second reading by the Council on September 17, 2019, however, it has not yet been signed by the Mayor or transmitted to Congress for its 30-day review.  A congressional review emergency act is necessary to prevent a gap in the law.

 

               The purpose of the underlying emergency measure is 1) to officially designate the new middle school in Square 3269 as the Ida B. Wells Middle School to honor Ida B. Wells, an iconic investigative journalist, civil rights activist, educator, and researcher; 2) to disapprove the public schools’ Master Facilities Plan submitted by the Mayor to the Council; and 3) to amend the code to clarify that a Master Facilities Plan can be considered at any time.