Dear Neighbor,

I want to wish everyone a happy Pride Month! This is a celebratory time to honor the history, resilience, and contributions of our LGBTQQIA+ neighbors. Everyone deserves to be seen, heard, and celebrated exactly as you are. I invite all of you to join me in the Capital Pride Parade on Saturday, June 20th. You can sign up here to join us in the Pride Parade.

Last week, the Council passed our Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27) budget in the first of two votes, which included many of the priorities I have fought for on your behalf. As the District grapples with a shifting federal landscape, building vacancies, and the rising cost of living, it is essential for the Council to pass a budget that confronts the urgent need to diversify our local economy, provide innovative economic opportunities for DC residents, and prioritize public safety while maintaining fiscal responsibility. I remain committed to increasing public safety, economic resilience and growth, affordable housing, and support for young people and seniors.

Investments in public safety and justice include:

• Allocating $100M in FY 2027 to the Workforce Investment Account to ensure our firefighters get pay increases

• Restoring the FY 2027 budget for Access to Justice (ATJ) to $31.8M in one-time funding

• Restoring $5.1M for Victim Services Grants, with a total of $56M for FY 2027  

• Allocating $200K in one-time funding to design a new Deferred Retirement Option Program (DROP) for eligible MPD and Fire and EMS Department personnel; this analysis is needed to pass and implement Councilmember Pinto’s DROP bill

• Passing enhancements for the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) for a total FY 2027 agency budget of $159.8M to ensure the agency is equipped to protect DC residents

• Allocating $500K to create a new independent Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services facilities oversight body under the Council, filling the gap left by the sunsetting of the Office of Independent Juvenile Justice Facilities Oversight

• Allocating $2.6M in one-time funding, to support the Pathways Program, which aims to reduce violence across the District by equipping individuals at highest risk with the social, emotional, and civic engagement skills needed to build safer, stronger communities

• Allocating $900K in FY 2027 and $200K in additional funding in FY 2026 to support Safe and Secure grants to enhance the security of nonprofit facilities, including houses of worship, at risk of terrorist or extremist attacks

Investments in economic resilience and growth include:

• Allocating $300M to expand the capacity of the Stadium Armory Metro Station for the RFK development

• Allocating $450K in one-time funding to restore funding for downtown activations and events outside the MLK Library

• Funding the Gallery Place/Chinatown Task Force Recommendations to reimagine our public spaces to be more pedestrian friendly, which include $3.5M in FY27 for Gallery Square, $3.6M in FY27 for the Chinatown Alleyway, and $13.5M in FY27, $3.5M in FY28 for 7th Street NW

• Allocating $25K in one-time funding for an enhancement to the clean team for 14th Street NW to cover more of 14th Street and to beautify tree boxes along the corridor

• Allocating $800K in one-time funding to install bathrooms in the Dupont Underground

• Allocating $7M to attract businesses and diversify our economy through the Vitality Fund and Tech Ecosystem

• Allocating $1M for potential site evaluations in DC for Children’s Hospital location to maintain healthcare and jobs  

Investments in housing and affordability include:

• Approving a total of $28.2M in FY 2027, and $142.7M over the Financial Plan, across both DHS and DCHA to ensure 495 vouchers (252 for families and 243 for individuals) remain available to help residents’ experiencing homelessness move into stable housing

• Making enhancements to the Department of Buildings (DOB) for a total FY 2027 agency total of $67M

• Allocating $171K and 1 FTE for an additional program manager supporting zoning and permit expediting. Councilmember Pinto secured the funding for this position and it's essential for removing red tape from the permitting process to build housing more quickly and to prepare for upcoming zoning changes with the Comprehensive Plan

• Allocating $636K in one-time funding for the Housing Purchase Assistance Program (HPAP) to help more residents purchase homes in the District

• Passing enhancements for the Housing Production Trust Fund (HPTF), for a total FY 2027 agency budget of $62.6M

• Eliminating the FY 2027 pause on family and medical leave and increases the number of weeks workers can take for medical leave from eight to 10 weeks

• Allocating $200K in one-time funding to extend and expand the Grocery Access Pilot Program, which connects low-income families in food deserts with fresh food via home delivery  

Investments to support education and young people include:

• Increasing the Uniform Per Student Funding Formula (UPSFF) per pupil foundation level up to $15,648

• Increasing the Pay Equity Fund through a one-time $60M enhancement to cover the gap between projected and actual expenditures, for a total FY 2027 budget of $72M

• Enhancing the Child Care Subsidy Program to remove the waitlist through a $10 million one-time increase in FY 2026 as well as a $39M one-time increase in FY 2027, bringing total funding levels for the program to $150.0 million in FY 2026 and $153.2M in FY 2027

• Passing enhancements for the DC Public Charter Schools (DCPCS)¸ for a total FY 2027 agency budget of $1.5 billion

• Passing enhancements to the Public Charter School Board (PCSB), for a total FY 2027 agency budget of $16.8M  

• Investing $1M in one-time funding for lead pipe testing within public charter schools

• Funding $2.4M, including $234K in one-time funding and $9.1M over the Financial Plan, and $435K in FY 2026, to expand DPR recreation hours and programs to ensure our children and teens have safe and engaging places to recreate

• Funding $700K in one-time funds to restore grant funding for the School-Based Behavioral Health Program

• Allocating $41.8M in FY27, $33.4M in FY28 for Seaton Elementary School Modernization, which will begin this summer and reopen for the 2028-2029 school year  

• Allocating $58.6M in FY27 and $47.3M in FY28 for the new Center City Middle School

• Funding $1M for Garrison Elementary field re-turf, which serves as one of the most used fields across DC  

Investments to support seniors include:

• Passing enhancements to the Department of Aging and Community Living (DACL), for a total FY 2027 agency budget of $65.2M

• Supporting Senior Villages for $1.25M in FY27

• Funding $110K to support a grant for a hotline attorney at the Legal Counsel for the Elderly to provide legal assistance to District seniors

• Funding $147K and one FTE (full-time equivalent) for a senior workforce programs coordinator position with the Workforce Investment Council

• Funding $500K in one-time funding to support foreclosure prevention for seniors

• Moving up $3M from FY30 to FY29 for the Ward 2 Senior Center; the total project budget remains $30M

Investments to support the arts, recreation, the environment, and the LGBTQQIA+ community:

• Funding the Commission on the Arts and Humanities, for a total FY 2027 agency budget of $47.6M

• Allocating $2M in one-time funding for a grant to Ford’s Theater Society

• Allocating $500,000 in one-time funding for a 2:1 matching, large capital project grant for Woolly Mammoth Theatre

• Passing enhancements for the Office of LGBTQ Affairs (OLGBTQA) within the Executive Office of the Mayor, for a total FY 2027 office budget of $856K, which includes $200K in one-time funding for grants to address gaps in culturally competent and targeted programs created by the consolidation of OLGBTA’s grant funds under Serve D.C.

• Allocating $543K in one-time funding for the Anacostia River Cleanup Fund, including a complete restoration of the wildlife rehabilitation grant

• Allocating $250K in one-time funding to support the E-bike Incentive Program

• Funding $1.5M for a new multi-use, turf field at Kennedy Recreation Center  

• Completing Ellington Field renovations for $1.5M added to FY27

• Funding signage at newly named Greens Court Park (Foggy Bottom) and Harmony Park (Shaw)

• Allocating and additional $500K to complete the Volta Park Spray Park project

• Funding new accessible trail connection at 34th Street, connecting the C&O Canal to Water Street & M Street next to the Key Bridge  

• Funding the Long Bridge Pedestrian and Bicycle Connection for $19.7M in FY30, $32M in FY31

I recognize the District faces acute budgetary constraints this fiscal year. Agencies across the government experienced dramatic cuts across the board in the proposed Fiscal Year 2027 budget, leaving extraordinary gaps and limited opportunities for Committees to reallocate funding to fill these gaps. While the Chairman has found hundreds of millions of dollars to fill these needs, we must continue to be prudent in our fiscal responsibility. I have reservations about the use of our reserves and caution that the continued use of these funds in the future could prove perilous for the District. I have similar concerns about tax proposals that have been floated at a time when the District’s economy is on uneasy footing. But there is a path forward and passing a budget that is focused on housing affordability, public safety, and our families, seniors, and kids is critical to the District’s future success.

Over the next two weeks as the Council finalizes the budget, I will be focused on many outstanding priority issues, including but not limited to identifying additional funding for:  

• Safe Commercial Corridors in FY27

• A new multi-use, turf field at Kennedy Recreation Center

• Amplified Sound Mitigation Act

• Charter schools

• The Lead up Lead out! program at the Department of Corrections

• Family Support Services at the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement

• Safe Passage in FY28 and beyond to ensure kids can get to and from school safely

The Council will hold the second vote on the Local Budget Act on Tuesday, June 23rd and a second vote on the Budget Support Act on Tuesday, June 30th.  

Yours in service,

Brooke

In the Community

Over the last two weeks, Councilmember Pinto and Team Pinto have met with residents, advocacy groups, and District officials in Ward 2 and across the District, including:

• Joining colleagues and neighbors to raise the LGBTQQIA+ flag at the John A. Wilson building to mark the start of Pride Month

• Rallying with DC firefighters to fight for pay raises and modernizations to our public safety facilities

• Volunteering with Food for All DC to pack fresh produce and non-perishables for homebound residents facing food insecurity

Announcements

DC Primary Election

Active civic engagement is the cornerstone of a healthy democracy and that includes exercising our right to vote. I want to share information from the DC Board of Elections, which is the independent agency of the District government responsible for the administration of elections, ballot access, and voter registration. This will provide you with what you need to know about where and how you can vote, as well as information about Ranked Choice Voting, which is newly implemented for the first time this year in the District. Early voting has ended and the District’s primary election will be held tomorrow on Tuesday, June 16th.

Shaw Library Renovation Update  

The project has successfully transitioned from planning into construction, according to DC Public Library officials. Major interior demolition work is complete, and over the coming weeks, concrete demolition for the new entry layout and interior construction will begin. You can review the full update here. Projected reopening in early winter 2027.

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