Fwd: <Press Update> DC Budget 2026: DC Council Chair, Phil Mendelson Wants Budget Cuts, Not Revenue Solutions; It's a "Trump-like Attack on DC's Black & Brown Working-Class"

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Date: Thu, Jul 3, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Subject: <Press Update> DC Budget 2026: DC Council Chair, Phil Mendelson Wants Budget Cuts, Not Revenue Solutions; It's a "Trump-like Attack on DC's Black & Brown Working-Class"
To: <pr...@dc4reality.com>, <press_...@dcfeedback.com>
Cc: <secr...@dc.gov>, Henderson, Christina (Council) <chend...@dccouncil.gov>, <rwh...@dccouncil.gov>, <abo...@dccouncil.gov>, McDuffie, Kenyan (Council) <kmcd...@dccouncil.gov>, <wfe...@dccouncil.gov>, <cal...@dccouncil.gov>, Parker, Zachary (Council) <zpa...@dccouncil.gov>, <jlewis...@dccouncil.gov>, <mfr...@dccouncil.gov>, <bpi...@dccouncil.gov>, Nadeau, Brianne K. (Council) <bna...@dccouncil.gov>, Mendelson, Phil (COUNCIL) <pmend...@dccouncil.gov>

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 2, 2025

DC Budget 2026: DC Council Chair, Phil Mendelson Wants Budget Cuts, Not Revenue Solutions; It's a "Trump-like Attack on DC's Black & Brown Working-Class" 

(In Memoriam David Schwartzman)

Washington, DC — July 2, 2025 — During a budget work session Wednesday, DC Council Chair Phil Mendelson pushed back against proposals by Councilmember colleagues who want to seek out new revenue to reverse the deep cuts found in Mayor Bowser’s proposed FY 2026 budget, which many have called a “MAGA austerity budget.”

See Part 1 and Part 2 of the July 2 Council budget workshop here:
https://dc.granicus.com/viewpublisher.php?view_id=2

The Council Chair, who in the past couple of weeks declared he will "cabin" or preserve  $1B dollars in the budget for a football stadium deal, urged colleagues to prioritize additional cuts to what he called “overspending,” effectively shrinking an already limited budget pie and threatening critical services for DC’s low-income, Black, and Brown residents.

The late Professor David Schwartzman, a longtime DC advocate for social and economic justice who passed away recently, testified at the June 18 public budget hearing, warning of the Mayor’s “assault on low-income residents” testifying to the types of brutal cuts in the budget: 

Watch fity-year Ward 4 Residents and Howard Univ. Professor, David  Schwartzman’s full June 18, 2025 testimony on the FY 2026 Budget: YouTube Video @ 4:07:04

"[The] repeal of the DC child tax credit, the ending of the baby bonds program, both of which would reduce racial income and wealth gaps... [C]uts in TANF ... ERAP, SNAP, ... no funding for housing vouchers for individuals experiencing homelessness... " and the list goes on, including massive curtailing of the locally funded longest running DC healthcare program, Alliance Healthcare, pushing 25,000 DC adults over the age of 26 off the program and into certain harm.

Councilmembers Charles Allen, Zachary Parker, Brianne Nadeau, Janeese Lewis George, and Matthew Frumin — without objection from their colleagues — raised the possibility of revenue measures to save vital programs and protect vulnerable residents. 

See their discussion on "Revenue-Raising" especially at 29 minutes into the Council video: Council Session Video.

With perseverance by Councilmembers pushin back against the Chair's resistance, Mendelson agreed to receive a list of "Revenue-Raising" ideas from his colleagues for further discussion before the first Council vote on the budget, currently scheduled for July 14, 2025. Details on the upcoming vote is available here: https://lims.dccouncil.gov/Hearings/hearings/846

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For more information, contact:

Chris Otten
DC for Reasonable Development
(202) 810 2768