Brooke's Briefing: DC Home Rule Explained & Practical Impacts of DC's Lack of Statehood

Dear Neighbor,

As I shared last week, my team and I are spending time this summer ensuring policy initiatives we advanced throughout this past year are implemented as planned, conducting oversight of our District agencies and programs, and meeting and engaging with residents across the city to hear ideas about how we can best serve you.

‍Today, I want to provide some insight into the way Home Rule – and DC’s lack of Statehood – shapes the government structures and services that impact our residents on a day-to-day basis.

‍I also want to send my condolences and outrage regarding the terrible shooting that occurred last night in Shaw at 7th and O St NW. A barrage of bullets killed one man and sent two others to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Our community is reeling from this loss and terror. Moments like these make clear the vital importance of all of our collective work to improve public safety and drive down violence.  

DC Home Rule Explained & Practical Impacts of DC's Lack of Statehood

Given the District’s unique and undemocratic status as a non-state territory, I want to elaborate on ways in which our lack of autonomy impacts residents’ day to day lives on everything from our public safety ecosystem to education to healthcare.

One of the most visible ways DC makes sure to keep our lack of statehood at the front of anyone’s mind who spends time outside (hint: everyone!) is through the tagline on our license plates: “End Taxation Without Representation.” This digs at the fact that DC residents pay more in federal taxes per person than any other state without full representation in Congress.

‍Congress has repeatedly interfered with DC’s efforts to expand local autonomy throughout the District’s history. Only in 1963 did District residents gain the right to vote for the President and Vice-President – poignantly noting that Black and minority DC residents, who comported a majority of the District’s population, still faced significant barriers to voting until Congress passed the Voting Rights Act in 1965. Home Rule was officially established in 1973, which allowed District residents to elect a Mayor and Council and pass legislation for the local jurisdiction.

While these strides were meaningful, Congress still has the power to overturn each and every law the representatives of DC pass, as well as to limit the ways in which the District can choose to spend its local dollars. These limitations are colloquially known as “riders,” which are legislative mechanisms that clarify or limit how government dollars can be spent.

Here are two prominent examples of these "riders” and how DC’s lack of autonomy heightens their impact:

• Abortion: The Hyde Amendment from 1976 prevents federal funds to be used in any way for abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and life endangerment. Other states may choose to use their state dollars to support abortion care. However, a DC-specific rider prevents us from using our local funds to provide health coverage for abortion, including through the DC Medicaid program. This rider significantly lowers access to abortion care for low-income residents.

• Cannabis: In 2014, DC passed Initiative 71 (i-71) to legalize recreational marijuana use and cultivation. Soon thereafter, Congress passed the Harris Rider to limit DC’s implementation of i-71 by preventing us from creating a legal framework for the sale or taxation of cannabis. Consequently, DC is unable to regulate or tax cannabis, which hurts consumer safety, burdens business-owners, and directly goes against the will of District voters. This has led to the proliferation of illegal cannabis businesses throughout our city.

Moreover, DC’s lack of statehood prevents us from having complete control over our criminal legal system. Here are a few examples:

• DC Courts: Unlike other states whose governors may appoint judges, the District’s Superior Court and Court of Appeals must be appointed by the President of the United States and approved by the United States Senate. This system leads to persistent vacancies on our courts, which slows down the administration of justice and overburdens the judges we do have with extremely heavy caseloads. A backlogged court system hurts our public safety interests.

• Local Prosecution: DC does not have control or oversight over our local prosecutor’s office, which handles all adult criminal cases. As with our judges, the United States Attorney of the District of Columbia must be appointed by the President. I continue to work closely with our United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, Matthew Graves, to ensure coordination and open communication between all of our public safety partners. However, the USAO in DC has to manage case loads of their federal cases combined with our local cases.

• Corrections and Parole System: DC does not have control over a local prison system, which means that District residents who are sentenced to federal prison can be sent anywhere across the country. Consequently, maintaining relationships with their family or community becomes much more challenging and hampers the ability for returning citizens to make a smooth transition once they have served their sentence and can come back home. This in turn correlates with higher recidivism rates and hurts their chances to create a safe and stable life.

• Police Department: While DC currently has oversight over the Metropolitan Police Department, the President could try at any time take Federal control over the department at their will. Additionally, our National Guard reports to the President, whereas other states have the ability to call their own National Guard for emergencies. This limits DC’s ability to be quickly responsive to circumstances on the ground, which we all saw too well on January 6, 2021.
  

These limitations on DC’s autonomy mean that as legislators, we must ensure we maintain strong relationships with the White House and our Federal partners. That’s why I went to the White House last week to foster collaboration, especially with their new Office of Gun Violence Prevention, and make clear the ways in which we can improve our collaboration to enhance services and opportunities for District residents.
 

Deputy Director Gregory Jackson of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention speaks to DC leaders.

Clearly, DC’s lack of autonomy impacts our communities in meaningful ways in the day-to-day operations of our government and in the opportunities for our residents. I encourage you to learn more about the history of the District’s fight for statehood here.

Lastly, I’ll be highlighting a few projects and priorities throughout August that are important to the District through my newsletter. Make sure you are subscribed to my newsletter to receive it in your inbox each week!

Yours in Service,

Brooke  

In the last few weeks, Councilmember Pinto and Team Pinto have been out and about across the city, including to:

• Attend the annual RAMMYS event at the Convention Center to honor and celebrate the incredible DC bar and restaurant industry that helps drive forward the economy and make DC thrive.

• Meet with the leaders of Capital Pride to ensure effective collaboration for a successful and iconic World Pride event, which DC is proud to host in June 2025!

• Meet with leaders at X (formerly Twitter) to discuss my letter to find avenues to remove dangerous content from social media to prevent violence.

• Meet with representatives from the Commanders and discuss the value to the DC community, the team, and the region to have the Commanders return home to play in DC.

• Speak at the Washington DC Economic Partnership Board Meeting to discuss our shared vision for economic recovery across DC and Downtown by creating resilient neighborhoods and supporting business attraction and retention.

• Read (and dance!) at the Southeast Tennis and Learning Center with kids who are passionate in their pursuit of sports and arts.

• Meet with the coalition Unchained at Last to move forward initiatives that will protect children from forced marriages in DC.
  

• Meet with partners to discuss potential affordable housing locations and opportunities in Ward 2.
  

• Joined members of Congress for the annual “Will on the Hill” event hosted by the Shakespeare Theatre Company to build relationships and enjoy talented performances.
  

• Meet with the National Children’s Museum to discuss opportunities to expand supports and programming for our young scholars and families.
  

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• Washington Post: Led by Trump, GOP plans to ‘reassert’ control over D.C. at stake in election: “Sharing the clip of Trump’s comments at the Florida rally on social media, D.C. Council member Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2) countered that if Republicans “truly cared” about public safety in D.C., they would do their part in Congress by swiftly confirming D.C. judges to the bench — a perennial issue for D.C. no matter what party is in charge — and, among other things, by boosting staffing for the U.S. attorney’s office, which prosecutes adult D.C. crime.”
  
• Listen: WAMU: The Politics Hour: Rep. Jamie Raskin on the presidential race; D.C. Councilmember Brooke Pinto talks truancy. “'What I would have liked to do this budget year is have a wholesale shift of our referral process to make sure that we are making these referrals for absent students to the Department of Human Services. There are a whole range of reasons why a child might be missing school... And the Department of Human Services is really better suited to handle those referrals and reach our arms around our kids and families to say, hey, What can we do to support you to make sure you go to school?’”  

• The Department of Energy and Environment’s Racial Equity Action Plan is open for public comment. Public input will be used to guide how the plan changes from year to year. Read the plan and share your thoughts at doee.konveio.com.

• Stay cool this summer! DPR-run splash pads and pools are open for the summer. For updated locations and hours, check out this link.

• The Department of Energy and Environment invites you to recycle unwanted electronics this summer! There will be collection vehicles throughout the city in each ward as follows:
  • Saturday, July 19 – Ward 3
  • Saturday, July 27 – Ward 5
  • Saturday, August 10 – Ward 1
  • Saturday, August 24 – Ward 7
  • Saturday, September 7 – Ward 6
  • Saturday, September 14 – Ward 8
  • Saturday, September 21 – Ward 4

• Learn more about where the collection vehicles will be and what can be recycled at http://www.rev-log.com/DCecycling.  

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