GOP spending bill seeking immediate $1 billion in cuts to DC budget

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hopefully, unless the CR is written to include clarifying language that this does NOT effect DC's budget it won't get the 60+ votes that it needs in the Senate. (ie. it needs 7 Democrats in the Senate to vote yes assuming all Republicans do.)

The Democrats don't care either. We are on our own as always.

Wish Bowser had made the hard budget decision of cutting from the billions in new spending that have been added over the last few years before it came to this.

What does this mean??

It means that spending was greatly expanded since the pandemic. This was largely done on the back of pandemic and IRA grants that reduced the cost of some of that spending.

Yet while the costs were reduced at the time the programs implemented often created long term spending obligations. The various health care, housing, school and transportation expenditures for example.

We have known for quite some time now that that new spending was unsustainable and that the post-pandemic bill was coming due. Had we been more proactive about cutting our budget then we wouldn't be needing to scramble now. We need the rainy day fund that we drew down when things were good.

TLDR: Trump sucks but we could never afford to be as generous as the Council has been recently. Free IVF, free housing, free food, etc

+1 I was really pleased to see some of the ways that DC used pandemic emergency funds - one time bonuses to ECE teachers, housing assistance, etc. But then the pandemic ended, and the funds went away, and . . . they just kept spending money that we did not have anymore to meet emergency needs that no longer existed. We had the lowest unemployment in a generation and they were giving people to pay their rent for years on end. It didn't make any sense from any angle, except that they refuse to believe that there is any need to prioritize.

The emergency needs may not have existed for you, but it did for a lot of other people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Incluing $358 million for schools (combined for DCPS and charter) in the middle of the school year. This is devastating and enraging. What chances does this have of actually going through?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/03/09/dc-budget-congress-house-republicans-continuing-resolution/

Same thing will happen to every city and state. Look at Texas 33% of the budget comes from the Feds. That will be cut.

This is the feds telling DC what to do with its own money, not federal money going to DC. Big difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Incluing $358 million for schools (combined for DCPS and charter) in the middle of the school year. This is devastating and enraging. What chances does this have of actually going through?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/03/09/dc-budget-congress-house-republicans-continuing-resolution/

Same thing will happen to every city and state. Look at Texas 33% of the budget comes from the Feds. That will be cut.

Not exactly the same. They will not cut the local Texas residents' taxpayer money. They might cut the federal payment which is a small part of the DC budget. The problem is that Congress approves DC's budget. Congress does not approve the Texas or Houston or Dallas budget.

There is nothing in the budget in question that is a "federal payment" to DC. Nada. Please be accurate in your descriptions.

[Anonymous]

If DC can afford to pack drug addicts and mentally ill people into luxury Ward 3 apartments at above market rates then it must be pretty flush with cash.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If DC can afford to pack drug addicts and mentally ill people into luxury Ward 3 apartments at above market rates then it must be pretty flush with cash.

Not anymore.

And Connecticut House is hardly “luxury.”

[Anonymous]

DC has probably lost a billion dollars just by not enforcing fare evasion and shoplifting for 3 years years.

[Anonymous]

Can someone please buy Frumin a necktie if he intends to ask for $1 billion on Capitol Hill? I’m mean, how embarrassing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC has probably lost a billion dollars just by not enforcing fare evasion and shoplifting for 3 years years.

DC doesn't collect metro money you claim is lost to fare evasion. WMATA does.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone please buy Frumin a necktie if he intends to ask for $1 billion on Capitol Hill? I’m mean, how embarrassing.

Did you ask Musk to wear a necktie too?

[Anonymous]

I’ve heard conflicting info. Some say cuts will be immediate, others say they have six months to make cuts. Any idea which it actually is?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone please buy Frumin a necktie if he intends to ask for $1 billion on Capitol Hill? I’m mean, how embarrassing.

Did you ask Musk to wear a necktie too?

Wut?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hopefully, unless the CR is written to include clarifying language that this does NOT effect DC's budget it won't get the 60+ votes that it needs in the Senate. (ie. it needs 7 Democrats in the Senate to vote yes assuming all Republicans do.)

The Democrats don't care either. We are on our own as always.

Wish Bowser had made the hard budget decision of cutting from the billions in new spending that have been added over the last few years before it came to this.

What does this mean??

It means that spending was greatly expanded since the pandemic. This was largely done on the back of pandemic and IRA grants that reduced the cost of some of that spending.

Yet while the costs were reduced at the time the programs implemented often created long term spending obligations. The various health care, housing, school and transportation expenditures for example.

We have known for quite some time now that that new spending was unsustainable and that the post-pandemic bill was coming due. Had we been more proactive about cutting our budget then we wouldn't be needing to scramble now. We need the rainy day fund that we drew down when things were good.

TLDR: Trump sucks but we could never afford to be as generous as the Council has been recently. Free IVF, free housing, free food, etc

+1 I was really pleased to see some of the ways that DC used pandemic emergency funds - one time bonuses to ECE teachers, housing assistance, etc. But then the pandemic ended, and the funds went away, and . . . they just kept spending money that we did not have anymore to meet emergency needs that no longer existed. We had the lowest unemployment in a generation and they were giving people to pay their rent for years on end. It didn't make any sense from any angle, except that they refuse to believe that there is any need to prioritize.

The emergency needs may not have existed for you, but it did for a lot of other people.

🙄 As soon as they removed self certification from ERAP those emergencies were magicked away. It's okay to be progressive but not a simp for obvious scammers, y'know.

[Anonymous]

We should take Raskin up on his offer to let us come to Maryland. Then establish our own state that way. Seems simple enough.

[Anonymous]

For anyone outside DC, know this affects you too. Trump/Musk are trying to take over the Capital. Fascism 101. We need to put pressure on the few D Senate holdouts.

Call
Alsobrooks
Bennet
Hassan
Booker
Gallego

I’ve given up on Fetterman.

If you have friends in those states, please have them call their senators and tell them to vote no on the CR. If Republicans can’t get their act together to keep the government open, Democrats will not bail them out. It’s that simple. This is a bad bill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve heard conflicting info. Some say cuts will be immediate, others say they have six months to make cuts. Any idea which it actually is?

Immediate. Continuing resolution means CURRENT budget.