[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 37 (Thursday, March 14, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E298]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 THE INTRODUCTION OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA LOCAL FUNDS CONTINUATION 
                                  ACT

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                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 14, 2013

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to offer the District of 
Columbia Local Funds Continuation Act, to permanently protect both the 
more than 600,000 residents of the District of Columbia and the federal 
government from an unintended catastrophe in any future federal 
government shutdown. The bill would allow the District government to 
spend its local funds at the start of a fiscal year if Congress has not 
approved the District's local budget by such time, thereby avoiding a 
District government shutdown if the federal government shuts down. 
Although the District government raises and manages an $8 billion local 
budget, Congress technically appropriates these local funds back to the 
District government, a holdover and throwback to the pre-home-rule 
period. Several years ago, Republican appropriators and I reached a 
bipartisan agreement to approve the District government's local budget 
in continuing resolutions (CRs), allowing the District government to 
spend at next year's level, if the District government's regular 
appropriations bill has not been signed into law by the start of a 
fiscal year. We are grateful that this agreement has held through 
Democratic and Republican congresses and administrations. This 
agreement has enabled District officials to operate complex, big-city 
functions more effectively than during the many years when the city's 
local budget was only approved by Congress months after the start of a 
fiscal year.
  However, last Congress, we saw the limits of even this helpful 
agreement when the federal government almost shut down on multiple 
occasions. While Congress appears poised to pass legislation to keep 
the federal government open for the remainder of fiscal year 2013 by 
acting before the expiration on March 27 of the CR that is keeping the 
federal government (and therefore the District government) open, the 
D.C. government should never have to wonder whether it will be shut 
down. If the District government shuts down, it could default under 
certain financing agreements and leases. When Congress cannot reach 
agreement on regular appropriations bills, it often operates under 
successive CRs to avoid a federal government shutdown. However, 
successive CRs greatly hinder the operations of the District 
government. Not only do they make it difficult for the city to plan its 
activities for the year, successive CRs greatly increase the city's 
costs of doing business. The city's partners, from Wall Street to small 
vendors, may charge it a risk premium due to the uncertainty created by 
successive CRs.
  Disputes over the federal budget have nothing to do with the District 
government's local funds. I do not believe that any member of Congress 
wants to shut down the D.C. government and bring a large, complicated 
city to its knees due to a purely federal matter. Moreover, D.C. 
residents are not alone in relying on vital District government 
services. Federal officials, including the President, federal 
buildings, foreign embassies and dignitaries, and businesses rely daily 
on the city's services, as well.
  A bipartisan consensus on preventing D.C. government shutdowns 
emerged last Congress. President Obama included a provision in his 
fiscal year 2013 budget that would permanently authorize D.C. to spend 
its local funds if the federal government shut down. The Senate 
Appropriations Committee-approved fiscal year 2013 Financial Services 
and General Government Appropriations bill included the shutdown-
avoidance provision. Although the House bill did not include the 
provision, the Republican-led committee's report accompanying the bill 
acknowledged that the District government would face considerable 
hardships if it had to shut down due to a federal government shutdown, 
and encouraged the passage of legislation to avoid D.C. government 
shutdowns.
  We continue to work to pass a budget autonomy bill, which would free 
the District government's local budget from congressional approval, and 
is, of course, the best long-term solution. There is also increasing 
bipartisan support for budget autonomy. President Obama has indicated 
his support for budget autonomy, as have House Majority Leader Eric 
Cantor, Representative Darrell Issa, Chairman of the Oversight and 
Government Reform Committee, which has jurisdiction over D.C., Senator 
Susan Collins and Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell.
  It is time we remove the District government and the multiple, 
unintended consequences of a District government shutdown from federal 
government shutdown fights. I urge my colleagues to support the bill.

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