District of Columbia Budget Autonomy: An Analysis of H.R. 733, 110th Congress (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Revised Aug. 30, 2007 |
| Report Number |
RL34032 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Eugene Boyd, Nonna A. Noto, and Jason Delaney, Government and Finance Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
The District of Columbia Budget Autonomy Act of 2007, H.R. 733, 110th Congress, introduced on January 20, 2007, by Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, is the latest in a series of legislative proposals dating back to 1981 and the 97th Congress that have sought to provide budget autonomy for the District of Columbia. When Congress passed the District of Columbia Government Reorganization and Self-Government Improvement Act (the Home Rule Act, P.L. 93-198, 87 Stat. 774), in 1973, granting the city limited home rule authority, it included provisions retaining its constitutional authority to exercise exclusive legislative control over the District's affairs, including the budget process. The Home Rule Act requires congressional approval of the District's annual budget as part of the congressional appropriations process, and includes prescriptive provisions governing budget submission, financial management, and borrowing authority.
H.R. 733 would allow the District to forego congressional review and approval of that portion of its operating and capital budgets financed with local revenues. The bill would also lift several budget content and financial management reporting requirements and restrictions on the city's borrowing authority. City leaders have consistently contended that Congress has repeatedly delayed passage of the appropriations act for the District (in which Congress approves the city's budgets) well beyond the October 1 start of its fiscal year. The city's elected leaders contend that the delay in Congress's approval of the city's budget hinders their ability to manage the District's financial affairs and negatively affects the delivery of public services. Proponents of increased budget autonomy can point to the Bush Administration's budget for FY2004, which included a statement in support of budget autonomy for the District of Columbia, and the fact that the District has produced 10 consecutive balanced budgets, six of them without the supervision of the Financial Control Board.
An argument against granting the city budget autonomy is that it could be viewed as an abdication of Congress's constitutional responsibility to exercise legislative control over and oversight of the Nation's capital, "the seat of the Government." Such a lack of oversight of the city's financial affairs could result in the city slipping back into a fiscal crisis of the magnitude that led Congress to create the Financial Control Board in 1995. This report will be updated as events warrant.
