Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser said she returned an unsigned fiscal 2027 budget after the D.C. Council undid her efforts to avoid a $837 million “fiscal cliff.”
Though the budget legislation was left unsigned, it will still take effect Oct. 1 following a congressional review period.
In the meantime, Bowser blamed the legislative body for choosing to “kick the can down the road” on major spending decisions instead of solving the city’s budget deficit.
The statement comes as she prepares to leave office in January. Her likely successor, Councilwoman Janeese Lewis George, will have to deal with the District’s budget problems.
“I want to be clear about what my proposed budget did,” the outgoing mayor said in a Friday letter to D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson. “It closed a $1.1 billion gap through real, difficult decisions, including spending reductions, budgetary savings, and the use of prior-year surplus rather than one-time measures. It made only minimal changes to taxes and fees — and it even delayed a sales tax increase.”
“These were not easy choices, but they were responsible ones, and I believe they were the right ones for the District’s long-term financial health,” she added.
The council decided to reverse the mayor’s spending reductions to childcare worker subsidy programs, grants to nonprofit legal services, and subsidies for hospital graduate medical education, among other areas.
“Each of these programs has laudable goals that we have funded in fiscally healthier times,” Bowser wrote. “Taken together now, however, they are a significant part of why the District faces an $800 million gap.”
“I regret that Council chose to add this $837 million burden on top of other inflationary or macroeconomic factors that could impact next year’s revenue estimate,” she said before casting blame on the city’s lawmakers. “I want to be clear: this choice was made by the Council, not me.”
The budget gap was partly driven by last year’s downsizing of the federal workforce led by the Department of Government Efficiency, which Bowser mentioned in the letter. In her final months as mayor, she is focused on generating revenue growth.
DC’S PLAN FOR 180-ACRE COMMANDERS STADIUM DEVELOPMENT INCLUDES HOUSING AND GROCERY STORE
One of her main accomplishments was securing a plan for constructing a new Washington Commanders football stadium in place of the now-demolished RFK Stadium in Southeast Washington. Part of her vision for the site is to attract residents with new housing and businesses with a sprawling commercial development that measures 180 acres.
“I remain proud of my Administration’s record of fiscal stewardship and am optimistic about the District’s people, talented workforce, businesses and future,” Bowser said as she finished writing the letter. “In my remaining months in service to the people of Washington DC, I am committed to identifying more bold growth opportunities that will help us supercharge our economic trajectory.”
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
