[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 4]
[House]
[Pages 5202-5204]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




        DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER VACANCY ACT

  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 1246) to amend the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to provide 
that the District of Columbia Treasurer or one of the Deputy Chief 
Financial Officers of the Office of the Chief Financial Officer of the 
District of Columbia may perform the functions and duties of the Office 
in an acting capacity if there is a vacancy in the Office.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 1246

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``District of Columbia Chief 
     Financial Officer Vacancy Act''.

     SEC. 2. AUTHORIZING DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA TREASURER OR DEPUTY 
                   CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER OF OFFICE OF CHIEF 
                   FINANCIAL OFFICER OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 
                   TO SERVE AS ACTING CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER IN 
                   EVENT OF VACANCY IN OFFICE.

       (a) Authorizing Service in Acting Capacity in Event of 
     Vacancy in Office.--Section 424(b) of the District of 
     Columbia Home Rule Act (sec. 1-204.24(b), D.C. Official Code) 
     is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
       ``(3) Authorizing treasurer or deputy cfo to perform duties 
     in acting capacity in event of vacancy in office.--
       ``(A) Service as cfo.--
       ``(i) In general.--Except as provided in clause (ii), if 
     there is a vacancy in the Office of Chief Financial Officer 
     because the Chief Financial Officer has died, resigned, or is 
     otherwise unable to perform the functions and duties of the 
     Office--

       ``(I) the District of Columbia Treasurer shall serve as the 
     Chief Financial Officer in an acting capacity, subject to the 
     time limitation of subparagraph (B); or
       ``(II) the Mayor may direct one of the Deputy Chief 
     Financial Officers of the Office referred to in subparagraphs 
     (A) through (D) of subsection (a)(3) to serve as the Chief 
     Financial Officer in an acting capacity, subject to the time 
     limitation of subparagraph (B).

       ``(ii) Exclusion of certain individuals.--Notwithstanding 
     clause (i), an individual may not serve as the Chief 
     Financial Officer under such clause if the individual did not 
     serve as the District of Columbia Treasurer or as one of such 
     Deputy Chief Financial Officers of the Office of the Chief 
     Financial Officer (as the case may be) for at least 90 days

[[Page 5203]]

     during the 1-year period which ends on the date the vacancy 
     occurs.
       ``(B) Time limitation.--A vacancy in the Office of the 
     Chief Financial Officer may not be filled by the service of 
     any individual in an acting capacity under subparagraph (A) 
     after the expiration of the 210-day period which begins on 
     the date the vacancy occurs.''.
       (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 424(b)(2)(D) of such Act 
     (sec. 1-204.24(b)(2)(D), D.C. Official Code) is amended by 
     striking ``Any vacancy'' and inserting ``Subject to paragraph 
     (3), any vacancy''.
       (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this Act shall 
     apply with respect to vacancies occurring on or after the 
     date of the enactment of this Act.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Issa) and the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia 
(Ms. Norton) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.


                             General Leave

  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous materials on the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  As chairman of the committee with oversight and responsibility over 
the District of Columbia, from time to time it comes to our attention 
that the Home Rule Act and other legislation that has governed the 
Federal City needs to be updated. In this case, because of the work of 
Delegate Holmes Norton, we became aware of a potentially dangerous flaw 
within existing law.
  On February 1, Dr. Gandhi, the longstanding District of Columbia 
chief financial officer, announced that he will retire on June 1. 
Subsequently, Ms. Norton and the Mayor both began to realize that, if 
they did not have a full-time and confirmed replacement by June 1, they 
would be without the authority to write checks; they would be without a 
requirement that makes the city physically work. This has been a flaw 
for a very long time. No city, no State, no government should have a 
single individual critical to the disbursement and consideration of 
their just debts; but that is, in fact, the way the law was written.
  This bill very narrowly but essentially--and, if I may say, it's long 
overdue--recognizes that there has to be a succession plan, a 
capability to fill vacancies. H.R. 1246 parallels the Federal Vacancies 
Reform Act and simply reaffirms a logical sequence of who may be 
considered to fill this vacancy for whatever period of time would be 
reasonable. Under our legislation, we recognize that we also mirror the 
Federal statute for what is, in fact, a temporary filling.
  I want to just close by thanking Delegate Holmes Norton. She brought 
this to us, realizing how critical it could be, and was the first to 
realize that, if Dr. Gandhi had simply had a car accident and had 
become infirmed, the same exact situation could have happened and could 
have been a crisis during an August recess or some other period of time 
in which Congress would have found itself unable to resolve it in a 
timely fashion. So I want to thank her for recognizing the potential 
before all others, and perhaps that's the best justification for having 
a Delegate represent the District of Columbia as she has so well.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I begin by thanking the chairman, Chairman Issa and, of course, 
Ranking Member Cummings for so quickly understanding the importance of 
bringing this bill to the floor and for marking it up expeditiously. We 
brought it to the chairman and the ranking member after they had 
completed the list for the markup, and they immediately recognized how 
important this bill was.
  May I also take this moment to thank Chairman Issa for his continued 
partnership on legislation to improve the efficiency and effectiveness 
of the District of Columbia, including budget autonomy, which got a 
boost this week when President Obama included a legislative provision--
that's the first time any President has ever included legislative 
language--to grant D.C. budget autonomy in his budget.
  This legislation is a whole lot more straightforward but is highly 
technical and could have been overlooked. The District of Columbia 
Chief Financial Officer Vacancy Act is, however, an important example 
of Chairman Issa's commitment to assist the District of Columbia in 
improving and safeguarding its vital operations.
  The bill, based on the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, is 
intended to clarify the authority of the Mayor of the District of 
Columbia to fill a vacancy in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer 
on an interim basis. Under the bill, if there is a vacancy in the 
Office of the CFO because the CFO has died or resigned or has otherwise 
become unable to perform the functions and duties of the office, under 
this bill, patterned after Federal legislation, the D.C. treasurer 
becomes the acting CFO unless the Mayor appoints a deputy CFO to serve 
as the acting CFO. In either case, there may not be an acting CFO for 
more than 210 days.
  The CFO, an independent official created by Congress, oversees all of 
the financial operations of the District of Columbia. The city may not 
obligate or expend funds without the CFO's approval. Congress, 
apparently unintentionally, created uncertainty regarding the Mayor's 
authority to appoint an interim CFO in the fiscal 2001 District of 
Columbia Appropriations Act, which added a 30-day congressional review 
and comment period before the appointment of a CFO takes effect.
  Now, when we passed the original bill, there was not that comment 
period, and here is where we got the technical flaw and Congress 
retained this congressional review and comment period in its rewrite of 
the CFO statute in the 2005 District of Columbia Omnibus Authorization 
Act. In the event of a vacancy, this review and comment period could 
leave the District without a CFO for at least 30 days.
  While it could be argued that the Mayor has the general authority to 
execute the laws and to administer the affairs of the District of 
Columbia, which may give the Mayor implicit authority to fill a vacancy 
in the Office of the CFO on an interim basis, this office, after all, 
was created by the Congress. It would not be prudent to leave doubt 
about the Mayor's authority as to the only officer who can authorize 
spending for the District of Columbia. The bill removes any possible 
doubt.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill, 
and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ISSA. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I would like to join with my colleague, Ms. Norton, in her comments 
just a moment ago.

                              {time}  1720

  The President recognizes that now is the time to work on a bipartisan 
basis on budget autonomy for the District, recognizing that every year 
contracts have to be let for teachers who will go to work in late 
August and early September, but in fact they often do not know what 
their budget is going to be on October 1. So this is another area where 
I think Ms. Norton and I find ourselves prepared to bring legislation 
in a timely fashion that deals with the need to make sure that the 
taxes raised within the District of Columbia by the people of the 
District of Columbia can in fact be put toward those essential, 
important services that are paid for by the taxes of the people of the 
District.
  So although that isn't directly related to today's legislation, I 
think it's critical that we as the ultimate stewards of the Federal 
city recognize that we cannot run the Federal city, we cannot budget 
the Federal city, we cannot in fact do what mayors and city councils do 
as well as they do. So although I share with my colleagues that it is a 
responsibility the Constitution gives us, I join with my colleague, Ms. 
Norton, in saying that we will live up to the President's request in 
the budget; we will offer legislation from our committee in the next 
month or so, so

[[Page 5204]]

that long before the passage of appropriations we once again have a 
piece of legislation before this committee that deals with a long 
overdue reform to the Home Rule Act, and I reserve the balance of my 
time.
  Ms. NORTON. May I thank the chairman for his remarks concerning 
budget autonomy. Many in the District see budget autonomy as simply a 
right because it is a local budget; and, of course, the Congress had 
nothing to do with raising the funds in that budget.
  The chairman had a hearing where he listened to the ramifications and 
effects of bringing a local budget to a body that, even in the best of 
times, is surrounded by great uncertainty; and he heard the experience 
of the penalties that the District incurs in its bond rating which 
otherwise would be perhaps the best in the country because the District 
has such a large reserve, unusual in these times. And he heard about 
our budget year, which is timed to begin with the congressional budget 
year; whereas, every other jurisdiction in the United States begins its 
fiscal year in July timed to their own children and the opening of 
school. And he heard about the difficulties of running a large city 
government and of the shutdown preparations we've had to make because 
our budget is tied to the federal budget.
  The District of Columbia did not lobby the chairman. He is an astute 
observer, not only of the District of Columbia, but of how money is 
managed, and he himself came forward with the notion that the local 
budget ought to be with local residents. It seems to me to be a 
particularly thoughtful proposal when you consider that Congress, in 
bills and various provisions that have been offered, still would have 
the final authority over the budget. Here we have a situation where 
Congress would lose nothing, but the District would gain what we would 
in the District would call almost everything.
  With that, I'm pleased to yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings), the ranking member who has been 
so helpful to me on this and other matters.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I want to first of all say to Ms. Norton, 
I want to thank you for your vigilance and thank you for staying on the 
case. No matter how history will be written about the District of 
Columbia, it must be said that you have, over and over again, stood up 
for the District, trying to make sure that it has the autonomy that it 
deserves, which is simply right, and we thank you very much for those 
efforts.
  As ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform 
Committee, I rise in strong support of this important legislation. The 
District of Columbia Chief Financial Officer Vacancy Act would give the 
D.C. Mayor the express authority to appoint an acting chief financial 
officer in the event of a vacancy in the Office of the Chief Financial 
Officer, an independent office created by Congress and responsible for 
the financial operations of the District.
  While the Mayor, as the official responsible for executing the laws 
of the District, may have implied authority under current law to 
appoint an acting chief financial officer, this bill erases any doubt 
about the Mayor's authority to appoint an acting CFO.
  That is so very important. The District's strong credit rating is 
attributable in no small part to the Office of the Chief Financial 
Officer, and it is important that there be no confusion about the 
office's ability to expend funds.
  Finally let me say this. I agree with the gentlelady, with her 
comments, with regard to her comments with regard to the chairman of 
the committee. He has shown strong support for this autonomy that she 
is talking about, the autonomy that the residents of the District of 
Columbia richly deserve; and hopefully we will be able to move this 
ball forward so that when we look at the end of our tenure, if not 
before, we will be able to say that we were able to accomplish it and 
get it done.
  So I applaud the chairman for his foresight. I definitely support him 
in his efforts with regard to that issue. And to this issue, by the 
way, because this issue here that we are dealing with today, clearly, 
we had a situation where there was a hole that needed to be closed so 
that there would be clarity. And through your foresight, Ms. Norton, 
and certainly the foresight of the D.C. Government, we now are able to 
close that so there is no ambiguity whatsoever.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill, 
and thank the gentlelady for yielding to me.
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, but I do want to 
thank the ranking member for his very vigorous and important remarks on 
this bill, and for his great assistance to me on this bill and on 
budget autonomy and many other issues.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to join with me in support 
of H.R. 1246. This bill under consideration is critical and timely.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Issa) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 1246.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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