Unanimous D.C. Council confronts Congress and homeless crisis

[alp227]

Source: Washington Post

The D.C. Council pressed forward Tuesday to declare fiscal independence from Congress, approving a $13.4 billion spending plan despite a vote by House Republicans last week warning District leaders against the action.

With the unanimous vote, the District is poised to implement a 2013 ballot measure approved by voters that empowers city leaders to spend local tax dollars without explicit congressional approval — acting more like an independent state than a federal territory controlled by Congress.

House Republicans last week passed a measure calling the move a violation of the Constitution and the authority it gives Congress to oversee the District. On the day of the vote, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) said the “current D.C. government needs to be reined in.”

The council also approved a plan to close the city’s dilapidated family homeless shelter at D.C. General Hospital and replace it with a network of seven smaller shelters to be constructed in neighborhoods across the city.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/unanimous-dc-council-confronts-congress-and-homeless-crisis/2016/05/31/3074d982-274f-11e6-ae4a-3cdd5fe74204_story.html

[elleng]

1. Good luck with that,

congress LOVES it's role as slave holder.

[Silver_Witch]

2. Congress can't even run DC...

...what exactly do we pay them for?

[cstanleytech]

3. Thats the problem though, most of them are actually getting paid by corporations to keep

the government from functioning as much as possible so that the companies can get away with things like paying workers a wage thats below the federal poverty level.

[reddread]

5. theres big money in poverty

once that became the deal, we are stuck with it.

[A Simple Game]

4. What an anti-Republican idea, taking control away from the federal overnment and

giving it to the local government! What Republican would ever advocate for shrinking the roll of the federal government and turning the power over to the people themselves? Well, for any case but this one... all of them. I think most even took a pledge to do just that.