Norton Highlights the Cruel Irony of D.C. Appropriations Bill, Including Many Anti-Home Rule Riders, Released on Emancipation Day

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The House Committee on Appropriations today released the text of its fiscal year 2027 (FY 27) Financial Services and General Government (FSSG) Appropriations bill, which Norton said includes an egregious number of anti-home rule riders. Republicans attempt to attach the riders to the annual D.C. spending bill to exert control over local D.C. matters, despite their positions as federal officials who do not represent D.C. residents.

Significantly, the bill would halve funding for D.C. Tuition and Grant Assistance (DCTAG), a program established by a bill Norton got passed in 1999. DCTAG makes up the difference for D.C. residents between in-state and out-of-state tuition up to $10,000 at public institutions of higher education in the U.S.

"The release of the FY 27 D.C. appropriations bill today, as D.C. celebrates Emancipation Day, is a cruel irony that will not be lost on the 700,000 D.C. residents," Norton said. "On the very day we celebrate Emancipation Day, marking the day President Lincoln freed 3,100 enslaved people in D.C., the first in the country, House Republicans have chosen to remind us that Congress can still impose its own policy priorities on D.C. without the consent of those who live in the nation's capital.

"By loading this legislation with anti-home-rule riders, from stripping away reproductive healthcare access to meddling in our local public safety and education laws, Republican members are attempting to dictate how D.C. residents live, spend their own local tax dollars, and govern themselves.

"These members were not elected by D.C. residents, yet they continue to treat our city like a federal colony. On this Emancipation Day, let this bill serve as a stark reminder of why D.C. statehood is not just a political goal, but a moral imperative to end this ongoing cycle of paternalism and disenfranchisement. Congress must pass my D.C. statehood bill."

The text released today would:

• Permit anyone with a concealed carry permit from any state or territory to carry a concealed handgun in D.C. and on WMATA.
• Provide $20 million for the D.C. Tuition Assistance Grant Program (DCTAG), a 50% decrease from the current funding level.
• Prohibit D.C. from spending its own local funds on abortion services for low-income women.
• Prohibit D.C. from using local funds to carry out its Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Amendment Act of 2014.
• Repeal D.C.'s Death with Dignity Act, and prohibit enacting any similar law.
• Require D.C. to submit a report on its enforcement of the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act.
• Prohibit D.C. from spending its own local funds to enforce its vehicle emission standards.
• Prohibit D.C. from using local funds to carry out its automated traffic enforcement law.
• Prohibit D.C. from using its local funds to enact or carry out any law which prohibits motorists from making right turns on red.
• Repeal the provision of D.C.'s Anti-Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation law, or Anti-SLAPP law, that exempts from that law any claim brought by the D.C. government.
• Prohibit D.C. from using local funds to implement its law allowing noncitizens to vote in local elections or on activities related to enrolling or registering noncitizens into voter rolls for local elections.
• Prohibit D.C. from using local funds to implement its Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022.
• Repeal parts of the Youth Rehabilitation Amendment Act of 2018 that allows courts to use sentencing alternatives for a person who was sentenced as an adult but was under the age of 24 at the time the person committed a crime, changing that age back to 22.
• Prohibit the use of funds to implement, administer, or enforce any COVID-19 mask or vaccine mandate.
• Prohibit the use of D.C.'s local funds to commercialize recreational marijuana.
• Prohibit the use of D.C.'s local funds to implement the Insurance Regulation Amendment Act of 2024, which relates to reproductive health care and gender-affirming care.
• Prohibit D.C. from using its own funds to implement or enforce provisions of the Consumer Protection Act against oil and gas companies for environmental claims.
• Providing $50 million for the Emergency Planning and Security Fund. The fund pays for the unique public safety and security costs the District incurs as the nation's capital, and is designed to cover the District's costs upfront so D.C. does not need to expend local funds and then seek an appropriation to be reimbursed for such costs after the fact. This is a decrease of $40 million.

Amid the anti-home rule riders are several victories secured by Norton, despite Republican control of the House. The bill maintains the provision to exempt the D.C. government from a federal government shutdown in FY 2027, a provision she has gotten enacted every year since FY 2015.

Norton also secured the following victories in the bill:

• Exempting D.C. from federal government shutdowns in FY 2027.
• Providing $10 million for D.C. Water Clean Rivers Project, a $2 million increase.
• Providing $600,000 for the Major General David F. Wherley, Jr. District of Columbia National Guard Retention and College Access Program.
• Providing $4 million to combat HIV/AIDS in D.C.

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