Reply to Bowser is testifying again in favor of statehood, while DC govt dissembles on statehood costs

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]DC Mayor Muriel Bowser is testifying again today on Capitol Hill in favor of statehood for the District.  Meanwhile, a Post article from earlier this month is getting renewed attention, on the additional costs to DC taxpayers of statehood - including for DC to assume the costs of operating the criminal justice system and the courts, plus significant additional pension liabilities and Medicaid costs.  This brings the cost, some of it recurring, to $2 billion just for starters.  I support DC full voting rights in Congress, but the financial impact of statehood hasn't been clearly thought out.  It's a lot of money for the District, with lots of acute needs, to spend on DC politicians' vanity project.

Bowser's spokespersons said that DC has plenty of revenue to absorb these costs, but then said that it may be necessary to defer certain planned spending, such as on affordable housing and school renovations, to pay for statehood.

Also concerning was this:  "Leaders of a new state would be able to make different choices about criminal justice, implementing changes that could cut costs"

So reassuring, when violent crime is spiking across the District, including last week's drive by shooting at an elementary school site in Upper NW in which two people were injured by gunfire. Someone should ask Bowser how her team can be so cavalier about criminal justice spending, when young criminals can shoot up a school with automatic weapons, just a half-mile form where the Vice President resides.  And why MPD policy prohibits hot pursuit of fleeing shooter suspects, unless a federal agency takes the lead.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/06/04/dc-statehood-cost/
[/quote]

The idea of statehood, and voting rights, being a vanity project... :roll: [/quote]

Why was D.C. not conceived as a state in the first place?

Centuries have gone by and no one thought of changing it to a state before?

Why?[/quote]
There have been lots of attempts at DC statehood, this is by no means the first one.
https://dcist.com/story/11/02/12/smooth-sailing-for-dc-voting-rights/[/quote]

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