Dear Neighbor,
Today, we honor the signing of the DC Compensated Emancipation Act of 1862, which ended slavery in the District. Let us all celebrate the courage and resilience of those who fought for freedom and reflect on the continued journey for equality and justice. As a reminder, the District is operating on a modified schedule in observance of DC Emancipation Day and you can read the full list here.
SAFETY
We must promote prevention and programming to keep young people and all residents safe. On Tuesday, April 21st, I will again move my emergency juvenile curfew bill for a vote after my colleagues unfortunately voted to postpone the vote during the March 31st legislative meeting, which leaves us without this effective tool until the Council acts. The legislation gives the MPD Chief the authority to declare temporary juvenile curfew zones in designated areas, which is especially critical when they have information about planned “teen takeovers” and other unsafe activities.
The Council will also vote on a permanent version of the juvenile curfew bill on Tuesday, which I held a hearing on in December and advanced in the Judiciary and Public Safety Committee last week in a unanimous vote. If passed, the permanent version would go into effect in the fall, which is why we must also pass the emergency bill to ensure there is no gap, especially in the summer months. The juvenile curfew is just one effective and preventative tool to reduce juvenile crime without increasing arrests that must also be coupled with meaningful expansions of youth programming and investments in our young people. My Prosper DC plan includes several bills that create more programming in the District to ensure young people have safe places to go including on nights and weekends.
BUDGET
This week the mayor transmitted the Fiscal Year 2027 budget to the Council and we will begin the legislative review process. As Chairwoman of the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety, I will be holding budget hearings for the public safety agencies under my purview. You can check out our full committee schedule below and sign up to testify or submit testimony here.
HOUSING
Finally, I am so excited to work with all of you to pass my affordable housing legislative package that I introduced this week called the HOMES Act. This important omnibus bill will make homeownership more accessible to more people, help stabilize rent by increasing supply and bringing costs down, and make it easier to build new types of housing.
Yours in service,
Brooke
Legislative Updates
Juvenile Curfew & LEARNS Amendment Act
On Thursday, April 9th, the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety held a markup and advanced two important bills:
The Juvenile Curfew Amendment Act: This is a permanent version of the juvenile curfew bill. This bill would allow the mayor to extend the juvenile curfew hours in the District when appropriate to protect public safety, and it would authorize the MPD Chief to establish extended juvenile curfew hour zones when necessary to work to prevent planned fights, “teen takeovers,” and other unsafe activities.
The Leading Education Access for Reentry and Necessary Success (LEARNS) Amendment Act: This bill would mandate the Department of Corrections to evaluate students for special education services who were not evaluated before entering DOC custody. It would designate DOC as the District agency to provide a free appropriate public education (FAPE) under the Individuals with Disabilities Act and District law to certain individuals in DC custody and detained in its facilities. The legislation also provides a transparent grievance process at DOC with a digital, public-facing tracking system for complaints, grievances, and service requests.
HOMES Act
Councilmember Pinto introduced a legislative package to build more housing, increase housing affordability, and boost homeownership in the District. The “Housing Opportunity, Mobility, Equity, and Stability (HOMES) Omnibus Amendment Act of 2026” (HOMES Act) will increase housing production and increase pathways to homeownership for DC residents in order to stem the rising cost of housing.
The HOMES Act will increase housing production and homeownership by:
- Creating a new pilot pathway to homeownership by allowing residents who are close to ownership-ready but still need more support before taking on a mortgage by allowing them to take part in a lease-to-ownership model.
- Instituting a five-year mortgage interest tax credit for first-time homebuyers.
- Streamlining the process for homeowners to subdivide residential lots, which will create more space for new housing.
- Creating a Housing Acceleration Fund to help speed up construction of new, mixed-income rental housing for shovel-ready projects to increase supply for residents.
- Improving construction permitting by forming the Permit Process Advisory Council to work collaboratively with the Department of Buildings to make the permitting process faster and clearer to accelerate construction timelines.
- Making smart and creative changes to the housing tax increment financing (TIF) program creating a noncontiguous DC affordable housing TIF program, which uses future revenue from property taxes to pay for building new housing and housing preservation.
- Establishing a new dedicated program to transform vacant, abandoned, or blighted properties into affordable housing units.
In the Community
Over the last two weeks, Councilmember Pinto and Team Pinto have met with residents, advocacy groups, and local and federal partners across the District, including:
- Hosting an Earth Day cleanup with District Cleanups and Shaw Main Streets to join dozens of neighbors to pick up litter and clean up Shaw neighborhoods
- Attending the mayor’s budget presentation to the Council to push for Councilmember Pinto’s budget priorities
In the News
WATCH WUSA9: “Brooke Pinto talks juvenile curfew, affordable housing”
“D.C. Councilmember Brooke Pinto discusses youth curfews and affordable housing in the District with Annie Yu.”
WATCH FOX 5’S DMV ZONE: Councilmember Pinto joined FOX 5’s DMV Zone to discuss her new affordable housing package and the juvenile curfew bill
READ URBAN TURF: “Lease-to-Own, Lot Splits, and a Faster Permit Process: Brooke Pinto Introduces New DC Housing Bill”
"Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto unveiled a wide-ranging housing bill Monday aimed at tackling DC's affordability crunch from multiple angles.
The legislation, dubbed the HOMES Act — short for Housing Opportunity, Mobility, Equity, and Stability Omnibus Amendment Act of 2026 — targets three broad problems: a shortage of new housing, high barriers to homeownership, and rising costs citywide.
The homeownership provisions are among the most novel. The bill would launch a pilot program letting renters who are nearly mortgage-ready transition into ownership through a lease-based model, giving them time to shore up their finances before committing to a full purchase...”
Announcements
DC EMANCIPATION DAY EVENTS
Check out the full list of DC Emancipation Day events happening around the District by clicking here.
TRUCK TOUCH 2026
On Saturday, May 2, 2026, RFK Stadium’s Lot 8 will hold DC's annual "Truck Touch" celebration from 8:00am to 2:00pm for a high-energy, hands-on experience for all ages. Sign up to join the event by clicking here.
