call to order this meeting this is a regular meeting of the committee of the whole of the Council of the District of Colombia I am Phil mson chair of the council and chair of the committee of the whole today is Tuesday December 19th 2023 the time is 11:18 in the morning and we are meeting in the council chambers room 500 of the Johnny Wilson building although I believe there are a couple members who may be participating virtually and the public can watch this hearing on Council Channel 13 is uh cable television and also through the council's website which is www.dc.gov uh this is as I said a regular meeting of the committee the whole it will be followed by an additional meeting of the council legislative meeting uh we will first see whether we have a quorum Mr Cash would you call the role chairman mson president council member Allen here council member bonds here council member fman here council member gray here council member Henderson here council member Lewis George here council member McDuffy here council member Nido here council member Parker Council M Parker council member Pinto Council Pinto council member Robert whitec Robert White council member Tryon White Council trayan white here here Mr chairman you have a quum uh thank you Mr Cash we have the uh secretary's report of committee filings I'm going to recognize CH Mr McDuffy and I move to wave the reading of the secretary's report been a motion to weave wave the reading to weave the rating no to wave the reading uh is there discuss on the motion by a Voice vote all those in favor say I I are there any opposed you guys have it unanimously we have the reading of the secretary's log of introductions and referrals again I'll recognize the chair Pro Mr McDuffy I move to wave the reading of the secretary's log of introductions and referrals it's been a motion to wave the reading is there [Music] discussion on the motion all those in favor say I I I opposed the eyes have it unanimously we have three measures for markup three bills for markup in the committee the whole and then we have a number of measures that are coming through the committee of the whole for the legislative meeting uh the first bill is Bill 25-48 the proactive inspection program Act of 2023 this bill was introduced in January as introduced the bill 25-48 would require the department of buildings to establish a three- tiered proactive inspection program where properties would be assigned to tiers based on eight factors including the number of housing code violations in the last two years the age of the property and whether the property owner has been delinquent in paying property taxes in the past two years properties in the three tiers would be inspected once every eight years once every four years or once every year depending upon the tier they are assigned to the introduced version would also establish requirements for a number for the number of units that must be inspected by the department at a particular building require the department to provide notice of a scheduled proactive inspection 14 days prior to the inspection set minimum and cumula fees for inspections require the department to investigate retaliatory conduct occurring as a result of proactive inspections and require the department to provide an implementation plan and an annual report to the council the committee print the committee print makes numerous substantive changes to the bills introduced based on feedback from stakeholders including reducing the number of tiers to two and requiring inspections once every two years or six years depending upon the tier the property is assigned to providing the department with greater flexibility on the factors that will be used to establish the tiers and assign properties lengthening the notice requirement from 14 to 60 days and requiring consent forms to be provided in more languages than just English and Spanish the committee believes this is assuming this is adopted the committee believes that these changes will make the program more effective at targeting substandard housing and preventing poor conditions from materializing therefore better protecting tenants in essence the philosophy behind this legislation is that so much of our housing inspection program is reactive when there are complaints it would be ideal if it was proactive that the department was looking at properties before there were complaints and then prioritizing based on these two tiers that the proactive inspections occur every two years or every I think I said six years um there was a lot of back and forth between the committee staff and the department and I'm not going to say that they're 100% supportive of the bill but I think we' struck a good balance to ensure that there is a more meaningful and useful Pro active inspection program for rental housing um I move the print with lead for staff to make technical conforming and conforming changes is there discussion council member bonds and then council member Henderson and council member Robert White chairman yes uh Mr chairman I really want to um um thank you for moving this um important piece of legislation it is a time um that came um many years ago and to have it now um it's it's very rewarding and I just wanted to thank you for for moving it thank you very much thank you council member Henderson thank you Mr chairman um I have a question around do we know how many inspector positions have not been filled by the department of buildings uh at the moment I don't know let me see uh I don't have current figures when we adopted the budget back in May roughly it was around 27 vacant positions we had increased the number of inspectors from something like 50 to 100 those are rough numbers and uh they were unable to fill all of them um as of the budget earlier this year and I'm told that was because there's just difficulty in hiring and also that they require qualifications which the director is trying to um restructure so that people can be hired and then get the training as opposed to you have to be fully certified before they hire that's a long way of saying no I don't know how many vacancies Okay the reason I'm asking is looking at the fist for this legislation it seems to be position based so I'm curious whether or not you're concerned if they already have vacancies that they're having a difficult time filling that we would be giving them additional positions that they also would have difficulty filling fair point we'll be looking at that at budget time great thank you council member Robert White uh thank you chairman um I'm hoping that you uh can give some um context for the public um using a a real world example and to show how uh this legislation would work so if we look at a building like mberry Plaza uh that has been plagued by significant issues many of us have have seen it mold mildew the Attorney General is now trying to take the building into receivership uh would this bill address situations like that and if so how um so I'm gonna skip Marberry Plaza for a second and say that take a building that has a um is generally considered well regarded and considered to be well-kept it would be inspected every six years it just would be inspected every six years and not every unit it's a percentage of units I don't remember offand the percentage um but then take another building let's just pick a a 12 unit building that uh has had a history of housing code complaints uh it would be inspected every two years uh just every two years now um I paused when you asked the question because I wanted to check with staff uh a building like marry Plaza right now is getting a a lot of attention and so I think inspectors are out there fairly frequently nevertheless it would be on the proactive inspection schedule under the committee print so in addition to the um whatever inspections are going on right now that are complaint-based I'll say reactive there would still be a proactive and given the complaints around that building I'm sure it would be every two years I appreciate but it it should help prevent things situations like that from occurring in the first place idea yes is that it would um it would prevent it's meant to avoid the slum properties that we have thank you uh council member noo thank you chairman um I do want to thank you for moving forward on this legislation there's so much work to be done to repair the damage to DC residents caused by years of inadequate housing code inspection and enforcement the council's creation of the Department of buildings was obviously a major step but I think making sure that the agency gets proactive inspections right is just as significant as legislators I think we should do everything we can to ensure that the district government does not rely on proactive complaints to protect residents or ensure delivery of quality services and this is true of everything from potholes to trash collection but nowhere is it more important than in housing code inspections we talk about being a housing first jurisdiction when it comes to addressing homelessness but that can also mean ensuring that housing people um have have that the housing people do have is safe and dignified I do have one question for you one of the factors for assigning points to properties for proactive inspection is targeted to areas with vulnerable populations which I imagine would be based on census geography however I know a lot of properties that are home to Residents considered more vulnerable but within are that may not meet that threshold does the bill consider this and I'm thinking for example in W one we have a number of low-income properties nestled in very high income areas that you know might that we would want well let me see we can look at that um there are a number of factors set forth so there isn't one factor that's determinative uh but the factors taken together well actually the factors individually are do correlate with higher incidents of poorly maintained properties so geography could be one but it's not the sole one uh the history of housing complaints would be one okay I actually think that's more important one um and then the age of the building so I'm guessing that some of the buildings you're thinking of are older buildings yes sure and probably have a history of complaints and so they would be high on the list great thank you for that clarification I appreciate it thank you chairman other questions or discussion we have the print before us and the um uh print is moved subject to what do I say with leave for St to make Technical and conforming changes I do roll call votes on the uh we'll have a roll call vote on the print member noo yes council member noo votes yes council member Parker yes council member Parker votes yes council member Pinto yes council member Pinto votes yes council member Robert White yes council member Robert White votes yes council member Tron white yes Council M trayon white votes yes council member Allen yes council member Allen votes yes council member bonds yes council member bonds votes yes council member frean yes council member freuman votes yes council member gray yes council member gray votes yes council member Henderson yes council member Henderson votes yes council member Lewis George yes counc member L George votes yes council member McDuffy yes council member McDuffy votes yes chairman Mendon yes chairman Mendon votes yes Mr chairman there are 13 yeses uh the committee print is approved we have the report I move the report with leap for staff to make technical conforming and editorial changes is there discussion on the report by a Voice vote all those in favor of the report say I I I opposed I don't hear any no votes the eyes have it unanimously Madam General council is the measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is mam secretary's the record complete once the report and hearing record are filed Madam budget director does the measures fiscal impact statement comply with Council requirements yes it does and it does have a fiscal impact of 2 million in FY 24 and 7 to over the financial planning period thank you without objection this measure will be placed on the consent agenda for today's additional legislative meeting the next measure for markup is Bill 255-5323 this bill would officially redesignate the school known as John Tyler Elementary School to be renamed the Shirley Chisum Elementary School this as I said is an official naming John Tyler Elementary School which is located on Capitol Hill is named for John Tyler who was the 10th President of United States uh with a record that is outlined in the report and that one that that comports with DC values the school Community felt uh several years ago that the school they wanted the school renamed and through a process I'll say a democratic process or something process with a whole lot of participation um the uh School Community came up with the name Shirley Chisum in 1964 Shirley Chisum ran for an open seat in the New York State Assembly she faced resistance based on her gender but worked to appeal directly to female voters and won her primary and later in the general election she quickly gained a reputation as a fierce advocate for the underprivileged in 1968 Miss Chisum made history by becoming the first African-American woman elected to the United States Congress representing the New York's 12th congressional district during her seven terms in Congress from 1969 to 1983 Miss Chisum advocated for a range of social issues including Education Health Care and racial and gender equality in 1972 she broke new ground Again by becoming the first African-American woman to seek a major party's nomination for the presidency running as a Democrat Although our campaign faced numerous challenges chism's bold approach paved the way for future generations of women and minorities to engage in presidential Politics the report tells more about uh her history and her accomplishments um but uh she is considered today uh very well regarded today in history and as I said the community school community advocate ated for the name on October 11th of this year council member Allen introduced the bill and on November 28th the committee of the whole held a hearing on the bill the committee received no testimony or comments and opposition to the designation and so I without objection I move both the print and Report would leave for staff to make technical conforming and editorial changes is there discussion Mr chairman Council M thank you very much Mr chairman um I want to just thank you and your staff for moving quickly after the Bill's hearing on November 28th to be able to get this bill on the agenda today uh as you already outline and explains chairman Tyler Elementary School located on Capitol Hill in ward 6 has as its namesake John Tyler who is the 10th president of the United States from 1841 to 1845 I think the committee report outlines very well the deeply problematic and racist history of this individual um but in short his namesake is just simply inappropriate it does not reflect the rich diversity and the values of the school Community I also think it's important to speak just a little bit about the process of getting to today the school Community got together and began this process to rename the school at the start of 2020 the school PTA circulated three surveys in 2021 2022 and again in 2023 to collect ideas for new names from students and families a PTA subcommittee was formed at reviewed 121 nominated names evaluated them based on specific criteria and then to decide on a name earlier this year the community used an extensive rank Choice voting process that included former staff families community members students caregivers and the community decided to rename the school after Shirley Chisum and I agree with the community that Shirley Chisum is an exceptional role model and better represents the inclusive and anti-racist values of the school Community the committee report outlines very well her extensive and many accomplishments and qualities I do want to add for the record that at the hearing we also learned from The Young students who had studied Sur ISM that she also spoke Spanish making an even more ideal namesake for the school given its current dual language before concluding though I want to take a quick moment to express my gratitude and thanks to the entire School Community for not only being engaged in exceptional members but for being part of this renaming process that was above all incredibly transparent and inclusive I especially want to thank Nick berer Lea siskin and Aon Kershaw and all the public witnesses that testified at the hearing especially the students and young people who joined us and spoke up I want to thank principal bran for her exceptional leadership throughout this process as well as to DC public schools for their support and lastly I want to say that there still remain a lot of schools and public buildings in the district named after people with problematic backgrounds the process at Tyler I think serves as an excellent example and I hope that school communities across the district that are in interested and invested in renaming their schools will look to that process and hopefully emulate it thank you Mr chairman and again my thanks to you and your team for moving this forward today uh thank you counc member Allen further on the U Bill uh I do want to say we at the hearing in November had a hearing on two Bill namings the second being MacArthur um DCPS was really pressing us to move this quickly because I think to the lottery um they advertising the school as they want to advertise it with a new name uh I'm hopeful that we'll have MacArthur uh before us for markup on January 9th and also I think this bill assuming it is approved today today will be um uh second reading and emergency on January 9th and it looks like I've provoked council member fuman to say something I just want to say thank you um thank you for moving both of them quickly and look forward to January 9 yeah all right so we'll have a roll call vote the motion was on both the print and Report with leaf for staff Mr Cash would you call the role council member Parker yes council member Parker votes yes council member Pinto yes council member Pinto votes yes council member Robert White yes council member Robert White votes yes council member trayon white yes council member trayon white votes yes council member Allen yes council member Allen votes yes council member Bond yes council member Vons votes yes council member fuman yes council member Freeman votes yes council member gray yes council member gray votes yes council member Henderson yes council member Henderson votes yes council member Lewis George yes council member Le George votes yes Council McDuffy yes Council McDuffy votes yes chairman Mendon yes chairman Mendon votes yes council member no yes counc no votes yes Mr chairman there are 13 yeses uh thank you Mr Cash the print and reporter approved unanimously Madam General councel is the measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is mam secretary is the record complete once the report is filed thank you and Madam budget director is does the measures fiscal impact statement comply with Council requirements yes it does is there a fiscal impact there is no fiscal impact without objection this measure will be placed on the consent agenda for today's additional legislative meeting the third measure for markup is the bill 25-54 entitled the school Improvement Amendment Act of 2023 the purpose of this legislation is to establish an office of school support and Improvement within the Office of the State superintendent of Education otherwise known as AI this office will focus on academic Improvement in the lowest performing schools the bill this bill broadens ass's Authority by giving it the ability to step in and provide support to struggling schools however this bill is not a takeover Bill takeover approach rather it gives aie latitude to step in with help through funding coaching professional development and so forth I'm not going to read U from the report um I do want to say this the bill was introduced on October 16th of this year by myself and council member Parker it was a a um Committee hearing excuse me a public hearing on November 20th of 2023 I brought it up a couple weeks ago but we did not have a fiscal impact statement we do now it's a slight fiscal impact which I'm hopeful we can work out between first reading and second reading and if not we'll have to find I think it's $70,000 you think that's an amount that could be absorbed um but we will work on that uh again what this bill does is a creates Authority within the Office of the State superintendent of Education Authority that they do not now have to be more active with these lowest performing schools the bill itself besides giving that Authority doesn't um want I say it doesn't uh affect schools directly immediately what it does is it requires that by September 30th of 2024 Assie will give the council and the public a extensive report that will outline their approaches that they will be taking they will then have until September 1st of 2025 to implement the strategies or models for school Improvement and then beginning in September 30th 2026 they will start to issue reports every two years on the progress of these schools this is really about giving additional resources to the lowest performing schools um and I think it's consistent with the council's intent that with regard to uh funding for public education that we prioritize more for the schools that have the greatest needs which typically are schools with the highest number of atrisk students uh so I move the print with LEF for staff to make Technical and conforming changes is there a discussion coun Parker Mr chairman uh thank you I am optimistic as we take up the school Improvement Amendment Act of 2023 uh this legislation is a testment to our dedication to the future of Education in the district and I want to thank you Mr chairman for your partnership and advancing uh today's bill at its core the legislation Champions a profound commitment ensuring that every child regardless of their background of zip code has access to a quality education we know that that currently does not exist here in the district this bill embodies a vision that is grounded in evidence drawing on extensive research that underscores the transformative power of continuous support in our schools studies consistently highlight that remarkable outcomes that stem from ongoing Improvement efforts decrease failure rates enhance completion of homework heighten Readiness for advanced academic challenges and more effective utilization of resources I know my fellow council members share my steadfast commitment to guaranteeing that every child in the district receives a quality education and this legislation harmonizes with existing accountability measures uh with robust School support systems um and so I'm looking forward to advancing this bill and uh supporting us as they move forward I did just want to highlight some of the concerns or questions that were raised uh one uh the district is not the first to establish this type of office in fact every other state that has uh uh a robust education system and many of them that are outperforming the district have school support divisions within their State education agencies there was a question around whether or not this will be sending too much money uh to external partners and the goal uh as drafted in the bill uh and in our discussions with AI is that over time AI will build capacity inhouse uh to be able to do their school support work while acknowledging that initially AI may have to contract out some of that support uh and then lastly there's been a question around does this duplicate efforts uh within leas to support schools uh we know that the charter board uh does not provide bus school support uh as they do not see that as their mission and so Charters largely are already having to contract out for school support help uh and that leaves single sight Charters uh that are financially disadvantaged uh at a disadvantage of receiving the support that they need whereas in DCPS uh there's evidence in room that this would uh complement the efforts that that Lea is already leading to improve School support so all that to to say that with research that suggests that uh with continuous Improvement we can see drastic improvement in our schools um and the need on the ground I look forward uh to this bill advancing improved outcomes for our students thank you Mr chairman thank you Mr Parker further on the uh Bill uh we have the print before us with lead for staff Mr Cash would you call the role council member Pinto yes council member Pinto votes yes council member Robert White yes council member Robert White votes yes council member Tran white yes council member Tran white votes yes council member Allen yes council member Allen votes yes council member bonds yes council member bonds votes yes council member fuman yes council member freuman votes yes council member gray yes council member gray votes yes council member Henderson yes council member Henderson votes yes council member Lewis George yes council member Le George votes yes council member McDuffy yes Council McDuffy votes yes chairman Mendelson yes chairman Mendon votes yes council member noo yes council member noo votes yes council member Parker yes council member Parker votes yes Mr chairman there are 13 yeses uh thank you Mr Cash the print is approved unanimously we have the report I move the report with leap for staff to make technical conforming and editorial changes is there a discussion on the report by Voice vote all those in favor say I I opposed the ODS have it unanimously mam General council is to measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is madam secretary's the record complete once the report and hearing record are filed Madam budget director does the measure fiscal impact statement comply with Council requirements yes it does no objection this measure will be placed on the consent agenda for today's additional legislative meeting I forgot to ask on the fiscal impact is there a fiscal impact yes there is it's uh 77,000 and FY 24 and 558 over the fouryear plan and it's for one person thank you uh we'll turn to consideration of measures from other committees uh from the committee on health the next several are from that committee chaired by council member Christina Henderson the first is Bill 25-3 21 home visiting Services reimburse act council member Henderson thank you Mr chairman Bill 25- 321 the home visiting Services reimbursement Amendment Act of 2023 was introduced on June 9th 2023 by council members nadoo Lewis George Robert White Parker and Allen this legislation would require Medicaid and the DC Healthcare Alliance and the Immigrant children's uh program to cover and reimburse evidence-based home visiting Services beginning January 1st 2025 the Department of Healthcare Finance would be be required to consult with home visiting providers in the district to establish eligibility criteria and reimbursement methodology and to submit a Medicaid State Plan Amendment to the federal centers for Medicare and Medicaid services by December 31st 2024 home visiting Services support expectant parents new parents or legal Guardians with children up to 5 years of age home visiting services are provided um by trained professional in a participant's home and include Health social and Educational Services more than 30 years of academic research have shown that home visiting can reduce child abuse and neglect address behavioral and intellectual problems in children decrease unemployment am among mothers prevent hypertension and pregnancy and reduce pre-term births and low birth weight babies as well as School Readiness improve School Readiness for children the council has recognized the importance of Home visiting services for several years funding home visiting grants within the Department of Health budget this fiscal year the committee moved some of the funding to the Department of Healthcare Finance to begin the transition of Home visiting Services funding to the Medicare Medicaid Program to date 30 states have implemented Medicaid coverage for home visiting and seven more states are awaiting approval from CMS this legislation would have the district join the majority of states in supporting these important services for families during the pivotal periods of pregnancy and early childhood development with that Mr chairman I ask that this legislation be approved and moved to consent agenda for today's legislative meeting thank you council member uh so there's the opportunity for questions from Members if there are any council member Lewis George uh council member Henderson isn't home visiting critical prevention work uh in the sense we talk about it uh from perspectives people have had conversations in the city about what about parents and what are we doing for parents um and how do we uh help parents um with our young people home visiting is a critical prevention work that this Council has stood by and for for several years um it makes the difference from birth to three and Beyond we have several Community Partners like Mary Center who do critical home visiting work um whether it's focused on fathers whether it's focused on Mothers um or the whole family whole child um so I think this legislation is so important I thank my colleague for putting this forward um and Council M Henderson are there any other ways in which this is this shows to be critical prevention work for our city um thank you for that question council member Le George um it most certainly does we had a hearing last week um checking in on some of the maternal Health bills and um a member of the infant mortality committee testified around the number of infant depths that we've seen in the district related to inappropriate sleep areas um and so this is a a situation where home visiting could have conversations with parents around what are appropriate sleep practices for infants so so that those rates um will go down thank you uh I don't see any other questions council member Rons yes um thank you um I'd like to um ask um council member Henderson if there is a planned curriculum that would be provided to the homes or is this you go in and you discover what needs are and then you write the prescription um that's a really good question council member Bond so each home visiting provider does it a little bit differently um and so Department of Healthcare Finance would need to work with home visitor providers to determine who's eligible because of course we don't want the wawah West out there um but we want folks who are following um appropriate um guidelines uh and consultation with other associations um thank you um so can we then um assume that there may be both um a dedicated curriculum that can be used as well as um going in and servicing the family based on the Family's need um so I'm not going to say that there would necessarily be a dedicated curriculum like I said most of the the the home home visiting providers do something different but a lot of it is around having conversation with families around what is coming up so um is your infant having trouble eating then perhaps we need to connect you with a lactation consultant um are you having other um are you Mom experiencing certain mood disorders that we can connect you with someone um so I wouldn't say it's uh let's sit down and talk about um this is what a nap should look like or something to that effect but it really is tailored towards the individual needs of that particular family and and I appreciate that I'm I'm certainly not asking that we would pre suppose what a family might need but I am concerned that this is a great opportunity to talk about um good health practices you know as a family unit so that was the nature of my concern thank you thank you if there no further coun nadoo thank you Mr chairman um chairman Henderson um I just wanted to clarify um thank you for moving this legislation um is it true that um this legislation focuses on the evidence-based models um that the Federal Government utilizes and the District of Columbia utilizes so that when we are expanding the program we would be still following those evidence-based models that is correct yes ma'am thank you thank you if there no further questions Madam general counsel is the measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is mam secretary's record complete yes it is Madame budget director does the measures fiscal impact statement comply with Council requirements yes it does does it have a fiscal impact uh yes it does um it will cost 8.2 million in fy2 and 34.8 million over the plan of which about a third of that is local the remainder would come from the feds the 34.8 is local no um 12.8 of the 34.8 would be local the remainder would be um uh a federal match thank you uh without objection this measure will be placed on the consent agenda for today's legislative meeting Bill 25419 childhood continuous coverage Amendment Act of 2023 council member Henderson thank you Mr chairman I introduced Bill 25- 419 the childhood continuous coverage Amendment Act of 2023 on July 10th 2023 along with council members Pinto Robert White Doo Allan Parker and Lewis George the bill would require that any child under the age of six enrolled and Medicaid the children's health insurance program or the immigrants Children's Program would not face a redetermination or risk losing their health insurance coverage under the program during the covid uh Public Health Emergency all Medicaid roles were continuously enrolled redeterminations of Eligibility resumed on April 1st 2023 as of November of 2023 the district has seen tens of thousands of individuals removed from the Medicaid roles nationally more than 7 million individuals have lost their Medicaid coverage including more than 2.8 million children due to re certification processes for many the loss of coverage was not due to eligibility but simply due to paperwork this bill would reduce the worry and stress associated with the potential of losing health insurance insurance coverage for children and provide many health benefits continuous enrollment limits gaps in coverage for low-income children who frequently experience Health disparities and improves the access to health care services uh assists with care coordination and allows for consistent treatment over time of chronic conditions in passing this bill the district is joining a growing movement of States over the past year who have passed or have pending legislation to provide children with continuous coverage just in the two months since our hearing on the bill four additional states have applied to CMS to provide this continuous coverage so I'm excited that the district will be joining in this effort with that Mr chairman I ask that this measure be approved and placed on the consent agenda for today's legislative meeting thank you council member are there questions from Members mam General council is to measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is mam secretary's direct complete yes it is mam budget director does the measure's fiscal impact statement comply with Council requirements uh yes it does have a fisc yes there is a fiscal impact of 299,000 and fy2 1.92 million over the financial plan and this will also uh have a federal match uh 30% local 70% um from the federal government so the 1.92 is the total correct of which uh 30% would be DC which is is like uh six 600,000 roughly 582 uh without objection this measure will be placed on the consent agenda for today's additional legislative meeting Bill 25- 463 minor access to medical records and appointments regulations Amendment act 2023 council member Henderson thank you Mr chairman I reintroduce Bill 25- 463 the minor access to medical records and appointment regulatory Amendment Act of 2023 along with council members bonds Robert White Allan Parker Lewis George and Pinto on September 18 2023 the bill was originally introduced as bill 24-23 with the same name in April of 2021 and referred to the committee on health who held a hearing on the bill in November of 2021 but it was never marked up this bill would increase privacy for youth 16 years age or older and encouraged them to seek Primary Care servic when needed by allowing them to independently access vital me medical records and schedule medical appointments in the district of Colombia there are a substantial number of 16 and 17 year olds who have little um adult support uh due to homelessness uh shifts in foster care or other circumstances in developing this legislation I work closely with the DC girls Coalition a youth-led organization that works to elevate the voices of young women girls fims non-conform and young women girls of of girls of color of trans experience in the district DC girls Coalition reported that many youth they serve were not able to make medical appointments for themselves without parental consent or had to wait weeks to months for their case workers to coordinate their Health appointments for them currently DC law allows for minors over the age of 12 who are deemed capable of providing informed consent by a doctor to seek certain medical services including pregnancy or lawful termination substance abuse and treatment for mental health or sexually transmitted diseases without parental consent however the law is unclear as to whether parental consent may be required to actually schedule such appointments or to request medical records that can inform a provider's decision-making the committee print limits the scope of the bill to only cover youth who are enrolled in Medicaid or the DC Healthcare Alliance youth enrolled are excuse me youth enrolled under their fam's private insurance could unintentionally incur co- inssurance or co-pay costs for their families if they seek medical care without parental consent potentially leading to medical debt for a family so given that three and seven children in the district are currently covered under Medicaid and the alliance and that the intent of this legislation is to primarily to support children who are homeless and foster care or otherwise not supported by a legal guardian I believe that the committee print will cover all intended youth with the changes that we made with that Mr chairman I ask that this legislation be approved and um placed on the consent agenda for today's legislative meeting thank you council member are there questions from Members mam General council is the measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is mam secretary is the record complete yes it is Madame budget director does the measures fiscal impact statement comply with Council requirements uh yes it does and funds are sufficient for this thank you measure without objection this measure will be placed on the consent agenda for today's legislative meeting the next measure is pr25 d399 food policy Council Jose Funk McDonald Morales confirmation resolution of 2023 cber Henderson the next measure is for the food policy directors I was thinking they'd be presented separately all right thank you Mr chairman pr25 d399 nominates Jose Funk McDonald Morales as a public member of the food policy Council Mr Morales is currently the Vice President of Sales for DC in Northern Virginia for the Keeny produce company through keen's executive leadership development program Mr Morales has moved up through the organization since he started as a customer care representative in 2012 Mr morales's experience in Local Food Systems also includes serving on the board of fresh farm the largest farmers market organization in the district he is a w five resident at his confirmation hearing I asked Mr Morales about his perspective on the challenges of increasing healthy food access in the district Mr Morales referenced the bodega culture in New York City and recommended investing more in small neighborhood corner stores and farmers markets to reach residents without access to cars he also believed that his experience with major produced wholesaler will give him a unique perspective on streamlining on streamlining stream streamlining regulations and programs to ease with implementation uh the committee agrees and unanimously approved his confirmation and so I asked that the Council also um approve his nomination thank you council member other questions from Members Madam General council is the measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is mam secretary's record complete yes it is mam budget director does the measures fiscal impact statement comply with Council requirements yes it does without objection this measure will be placed on the consent agenda for today's legislative meeting PR 25529 food policy director Carol line how confirmation resolution of 2023 council member henders thank you Mr chairman PR 25- 529 nominates Caroline how as the PO the food policy director for the district as the food policy director Miss How would lead the food policy division of the office of planning which provides strategic Direction and guidance to the executive on food policy priorities in the district she would also lead the food policy Council and collaborate with District agencies to achieve the food policy council's priorities Miss how joined the office of planning as acting director of food policy in June of 2023 prior to this role she worked in several different District agencies at the department of small business and local de at the at the department of small and local business development she led the food waste Innovation grant program and the Aspire program for entrepreneurship for returning citizens at the department of energy and environment she coordinated the implementation of sustainable DC 2.0 and served as a detail at the covid-19 Emergency Operations Center focused on expanding grocery access and at the University of District of Columbia she taught courses on food and farm entrepreneurship Miss how holds a b holds a Ms in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology she's a war four resident at her confirmation hearing I asked Miss how how she could help the executive better coordinate between the agencies I was impressed that in her first five months she has already brought together dmed and doee to apply for a large Federal grant for local food businesses and has facilitated the planning between DHS and aie to implement the summer EBT program she has also brought on new exofficio members to the food policy Council from dgs and the department of licensing and cons consumer protection I Believe Miss how is uniquely qualified to take on this role and I look forward to working with her on our sh goals around food access in the District of Columbia with that Mr chairman I ask for colleagues to approve this nomination thank you council member are there questions from Members M General council is to measure legally and technically cons sufficient for our consideration yes it is mam secretary's the record complete yes it is madam budget director does the measure's fiscal impact statement comply with Council requirements yes it does without objection this measure will be placed on the consent agenda for today's additional legislative meeting pr25 d502 board of marriage and family therapy Sheila Holt confirmation resolution of 2023 council member Henderson thank you Mr chairman PR 25502 nominates Sheila as a licensed marriage and family therapist member of the board of marriage and family therapy for a term to end February 5th 2026 Miss Holt is currently the chairperson of the board she has a private practice and expertise in play therapy Suicide Prevention and adoption Miss Holt also serves as the senior Ambassador for the Department of Aging and community living and teaches at Trinity Washington University and the University of District of Columbia Miss Holt holds a masters in counseling from the University of the District of Columbia and she is a w five resident um for everyone's awareness even though we're moving this nomination today the executive has proposed to merge this board with the Board of Professional counseling and a bill that is currently under consideration by the committee on health um and so it is entirely possible that this we might be back here again with that Mr chairman I ask colleagues to support this nomination and that it be placed on the consent agenda for today's legislative meeting thank you council member are there questions from Members Adam General council is to measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is mam secretary is the record complete yes it is Adam budget director does the measures fiscal impact statement comply with Council requirements yes it does without objection this measure will be placed on the consent agenda for today's additional legislative meeting there's no objection the next two measures which are appointments related to the board of dentistry uh be presented in Block Hearing no objection council member Henderson pr25 d503 board of dentistry Dian Smith confirmation resolution of 2023 n PR 25- 532 board of dentistry Britany Harris confirmation resolution of 2023 thank you Mr chairman uh pr25 d503 nominates Diane Smith for a reappointment as the consumer member of the board of dentistry to serve for a term ending November 30th 2024 Miss Smith is a retired attorney with over 40 years of experiencing practice law in the district including as the associate general counsel for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Chevy Chase Maryland Miss Smith earned her jur doctorate from the University of Wisconsin School of Law and is a War II resident PR 25-5 32 nominates Britney Harris for the appointment of the as a licensed dental hygienist member of the board of dentistry for a term to end uh November 30th 2025 Miss Harris has been practicing has been a practicing dental hygienist since 20 2013 and recently trans recent and recently transitioned into dental hygiene education at the University of Maryland School of Dentistry Miss Harris is a member of the American dental hygienist Association and the American Dental Education Association she earned her masters in science uh dental hygiene from Old Dominion University and Miss Harris is a w seven resident um even with us moving all of these nominations today Mr chairman I'll just take my little last two minutes here to say that PSA to all district residents who may be watching who would like to serve on the 19 Professional Health licensing boards that we have there are consumer member positions there are member positions as well this is an excellent opportunity to serve and give back to your professional Community with that Mr chairman I ask that um colleagues approve these two Dental nominations and that they be placed on the consent agenda for today's legislative meeting you paused hesitated non-c consent consent let's be serious um are there questions from Members Madam General council is the measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes they are Madam Secretary is directed complete for each yes Madam budget director do the measures fiscal impact statements comply with Council requirements without a yes they do without objection these measures will be placed on the consent agenda for today's legis additional legislative meeting uh the next four measures no three measures were reported out of the committee on business and economic development shared by council member Kenyan McDuffy the first is PR 25476 real property tax appeals commission olafemi abomi Paul confirmation resolution of 2023 council member McDuffy thank you Mr chairman proposed resolution 25 - 476 would confirm the reappointment of olimi abomi Paul as a full-time commissioner of the real property tax appeals commission for a term to end April 30th 2027 before he was nominated to this commission also known as riptech in 2021 he served as a senior Commercial Real Property Appraiser for the office of Tax and Revenue Real Property Tax Administration assessment division no I think he also has previously worked uh as a real property assessor for Maryland state government Mr abomi Paul received the Bachelor of Arts in government and political science from the University of Maryland College Park and he is award for Resident I would move this resolution be placed on the consent agenda for the council's legislative meeting today thank you council member McDuffy are there questions from members Madam General councel is the measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is Madam Secretary is the record complete yes it is mam budget director does the me measures fiscal impact statement comply with Council requirements yes it does without objection this measure will be placed on the consent agenda for today's additional legislative meeting PR 25- 484 Ridge Crest Court investor LLC revenue bonds project approval resolution of 2023 Council MC thank you chairman this resolution authorizes the issuance sale and delivery of tax exempt revenue bonds notes or other obligations in aggregate principal amount not to exceed $20 million to assist a borrower Ridge Prest Court investor LLC and the financing refinancing or reimbursing of costs associated and rehabilitating a portion of Rich Crest Village in w 8 the borrower is a subsidiary of the nhp foundation a nonprofit affordable housing developer with a long history in the district the proceeds from this offering would help upgrade both infrastructure and unit level amenities for the benefit of residents in rickest village that I would ask for support of this measure and that it be placed on the consent agenda for the council's meeting later this afternoon thank you council member are there questions from Members M General council is to measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is madam secretary's directed complete yes it is madam budget director does the measures fiscal impact statement comply with Council requirements yes it does higher bees don't have a fiscal impact correct they do not have a fiscal impact and they do not impact uh the district's debt cap either thank you without objection this measure will be placed on the consent agenda for today's additional legislative meeting PR 25-45 Washington y Ying public charter School revenue bonds project approval resolution of 2023 council member McDuffy thank you again proposed resolution 25-45 authorizes the issuance sale and delivery of tax exempt revenue bonds notes or other obligations in the aggregate principal Mount not to exceed $44 million to assist the borrower Washington Yu Ying Public Charter School in the financing refinancing or reimbursing of costs associated with the school Expansion Project in war five Washington y recently received a renewal of its Charter and plans on expanding student enrollment for its unique Chinese English educational curriculum in preparation for that growth the school recently acquired property for development on First Street Northeast and plans on using these funds to develop that campus and these funds as was previously noted don't impact the District of Columbia and are in compliance with our home Rule Charter uh with that I move uh the resolution be placed on consenter and ask for support report this afternoon the legislative meeting thank you councilor McDuffy are there questions from Members Madam General councel is to measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is madam secretary's record complete yes it is madam budget director does the measures fiscal impact statement comply with Council requirements yes it does without objection this measure will be placed on the consent agenda for today's additional legislative meeting that completes the business for this committee the whole meeting the next legislative meeting well there'll be a legislative meeting in five minutes and then um the next regularly scheduled legislative meeting will be January 9th probably proceeded by committee the whole the holes are nice this is the committee the whole meeting we like committee the whole meetings uh with that uh we're going to take five minutes that means uh 1220 that means 12:20 we'll start the legislative meeting the time is 12:17 and this meeting's adjourned one two I'm calling to order to this meeting uh this is a meeting of the Council of the District of Columbia it's an additional meeting the 18th legislative meeting of council period 25 I'm Phil Mendon chairman of the council today is Tuesday December 19 2023 the time is 12:22 in the afternoon uh we always begin our legislative meetings with a moment of silence uh opportunity for reflection if uh that could be respected in the chamber as well as those participating virtually for a moment of silence mam secretary would you please call the role counc M Allan I'm here thank you council member bonds here council member fuman council member freuman council member gray yeah council member Henderson here council member LS George here council member mcy here chairman mson president council member Nido here council member Parker here council member Pinto president council member Robert White council member Robert White council member Tron white pres Mr chairman you have a quorum uh thank you Madam Secretary this is an additional meeting so we already did the logs at the committee of the whole we have the consent agenda before us are there any changes to the consent agenda the consent agenda is all of page two uh three items on page three and all of page one not hearing any changes to the consent agenda M secretary the vote this is a roll call vote vote on the consent agenda Madam Secretary counc remember Pinto yes council member Pinto votes yes council member Robert White council member Robert White council member Tran white yes council member Tran white votes yes council member Allen yes council member Allen votes yes council member bonds yes council member bonds votes yes council member freuman council member fruman council member gray here council member gray votes yes council member Henderson yes council member Henderson votes yes counc member Lis George yes council member L George votes yes council member McDuffy yes council member McDuffy votes yes chairman mlon yes chairman Mendon votes yes council member Nell yes council member Nell votes yes council member Parker yes council member Parker votes yes council member fruman yes council member fuman votes yes Mr chairman there are 12 yeses and one abset uh thank you Madam Secretary the consent agenda is approved unanimously we'll turn to the non-consent agenda beginning on page three the first item is Public Charter School Board term clarification Amendment Act of 2023 well that's why it's listed on the agenda but it was retitled in the committee to hold the term clarification Amendment Act of 2023 Bill 25- 342 it's on non-consent because I circulated an amendment yesterday and the amendment includes additional amendments to the administrative procedure Act and the District of Columbia codification act to clarify the publication in the register is not a prerequisite for an act or resolution becoming effective as has been practice and act is effective after approval by the mayor and completion of the Congressional review period unless it's an emergency act a resolution is effective upon its adoption by the council unless the council desires to delay Effectiveness to an applicability Clause these amendments that I circulated and are moving now allow Council to follow the current practice of publishing resolutions acts and laws in the register in addition a technical amendment is made to the public charter school board term clarification which is being included at the recommendation of the general counsel uh so I move the amendment and as I said it was circulated I believe yesterday is there any discussion on the amendment and if not I'll ask if there's any objection if there's no objection it will be approved it is approved without objection we have the bill as amended is there discussion all right we will have a roll call on the bill this is final reading on Bill 25342 it includes the amendment that was just adopted without objection Madam Secretary please call the role council member Robert White yes council member Robert White votes yes council member Tron white yes council member Tran white votes yes council member Allan yes council member Allen votes yes council member Bond yes council member bonds votes yes council member fuman yes council member fuman votes yes council member gray yes council member gray votes yes council member Henderson yes council member Henderson votes yes council member L George yes council member L George votes yes council member McDuffy yes council member McDuffy votes yes chairman mson yes chairman mson votes yes council member noo yes council member noo votes yes council member Parker yes council member Parker votes yes council member Pinto yes council member Pinto votes yes Mr chairman there are 13 yeses thank you Madam Secretary the bill as amended is approved unanimously the next measure is Bill 25-1 194 it's listed on the agenda's pay scale and benefits disclosure Amendment Act of 2023 it is now known as the wage transparency Omnibus Amendment Act of 2023 it's on non-consent because Council bond has an amendment which I believe was circulated last tonight and coun bons you were the one who moved this to your committee if you would present this please as well as the amendment all right thank you very much um chairman the amendment has been circulated and um technically what the amendment does it answers a couple of questions that um were posed here on the dis um during the first um vote um and that is is a definition of the employer and um we think we've answered that um as well as we have answered the question of whether or not the full schedule of benefits what that includes and it includes salary and whether or not the employer is offering um health benefits and the question is whether or not and that um those are the changes that we have made to the bill so you're moving the amendment yes is there discussion there's no objection council member Parker thank you council member bun there was also a question about the relationship of the legislation with does in terms of enforcement did does this amendment address that or was there any effort to address that it um did not change the we we did not change the relationship um and so it does answer that question that was not an area that we dealt with we understand that there is some desire to have does to be the sort of like the arbitrator um but um I think currently the law stipulates that it's done through the Attorney General's office if there is a question thank you if there's no objection the amendment will be accepted not hearing any objection the amendment is accepted thank you we have the bill as amended before us discussion Madame secretary would you call the Mr chairman oh council member Pinto uh hi thank you so much sorry I wasn't sure um Council Vons if you were gonna gonna speak to this but I really appreciate you and your team uh for working with me and my team over the last several days on uh making some of these these fixes and as I talked about last time I think this is a really important bill for transparency to address the pay Gap that we continue to see um but want to make sure that we're not being overly Broad in requiring you know an ad hoc employment relationship someone offering services in their requesting services in their home for example to be subject to this so I appreciate the thought around um defining an employer employee relationship but excluding independent contractors now I worry that excluding all independent contractors may be too broad of an exception because then even if you're an employer um in the regular course of business and hire dozens and dozens of independent contractors you now wouldn't have to um post this information I also have an amendment about um providing a date certain for this bill to go into effect which would be June 30th um and I have some concerns about enforceability with does as is usually done in the wage theft context as you know does will look at these cases in the first instance and then for a larger pattern in practice case could go to ogag and so for those reasons um I think that this bill is a really important thing I want to continue working with you to get it um into a workable place but I worry if we vote for this bill today we're just going to be back here um trying to hammer out some of these details at a later date and so would like to request Council bonds if it's okay with you if we can postpone this vote until January 9th so we can work out some of the outstanding uh technical implementation details Mr chairman May Council R thank you um firstly the bill that we are amending is act 2531 and that bill does not already independent contractors are excluded if you look at the definition section two it defines what an employer is and it does not specify that independent contractors are included in that category it is focused on those that will have a um contractual Arrangement and so we actually attempted to um work with the current law as opposed to adding categories to the current law if if that helps and as it relates to having a time frame for it to um um be app we were very much open to a couple of suggestions we received one was 90 days um and other was um six months and we had expected a friendly amendment that would speak to one of those um time frames okay so Mr chairman why don't why don't we do this first first I'd like to move an amendment that I hope can be accepted as friendly for a date certain of applicability of June 30th that should be in everyone's inboxes now um I don't know if we've received it yet since we're the maker of the amendment this could be done as an oral Amendment if it all it is is adding an applicability section that says this uh bill is applicable as of June 30th uh let me just review for a second this will probably be enrolled beginning of the year since next week is between the holidays and it would go to the mayor and she has 10 days so it would go to Congress about June 20 January 20th CH on my February so the applicable date would be yeah yeah that's what we said yeah yeah so Mr chairman are we speak are we speaking of six months so uh it would go to Congress beginning of February and the 30 days would be February March so it become applicable about uh April 1st roughly all right so you would have an applicability date of June 30th council member Pinto that's right and the amendment was circulated by Lynn gr my legislative director at 12:33 yes but I'm assuming since I haven't seen it that it was uh to add an applicability section yeah okay so you're you're moving an applicability section three this act shall apply as of June 30th 2024 if there's no objection can ask a question I don't want to object because I want to thank council member Bond and her team for working with my team as well uh to make the Amendments that I'm supporting today and I appreciate the amendment de um um customer is Raising here would it not be so I think in order to make sure that that that the business Community has enough time to understand the impact of the law and perhaps for the agencies to be in a position to enforce would it not be clear rather than speculate as to when it would be enrolled Etc just to say six months after enforcement is six months after less clear is it less clear after the effective date of the law yes six months after the effective date of the law is less clear today than a date certain like June 3 a date certain it's so a friendly Amendment okay all right so yeah we can accept that okay all right I won't I won't interject if that is is a clear way to go about it all right so if there's no objection uh the amendment of June the of establishing a section three to read applicability the section shall apply as of June 30th 2024 no objection it's accepted no objection it's accepted further council member Pinto thank you H and thank you for that council member Bond and and Council membery I'll just say to this I I hear you but I do think um it's important to have a date not just for this law but as we contemplate other things moving forward so everybody's on the same page and not having to do extra homework of when was to pass the council when did it receive the mayor signature when did it go through Congress so I think that it's a better standard to apply in the future as well to a specific date um so I'd now like to move that we postpone this vote until January 9th I think a lot of progress has been done I think that this bill is um a really important thing but I do think there are some remaining questions about independent contractors um how we can be crystal clear about inhome services um and the enforcement role of oag I appreciate that does is a lot on their plate as does oag um and just want to make sure that we can all feel confident that this can be implemented as intended and enforced as intended as opposed to passing something that I anticipate we will have to come back and and fix at a later date so I'd like to move to postpone until January 9th coun um chairman I um I'm I'm prepared for us to take a vote today I think we have um worked hard and fast to reach um an understanding of how we are looking at wage transparency in the community and um council member McDuffy has worked with with us on this issue and um we feel that we have described employer an employee um almost to the limits of what um the language really requires and um one of the things we do not want is to send a message to our broader community and our business community that um transparent Y and hiring is not an important um matter and we certainly don't want this to um end up being a situation where we can never reach a clear understanding of independent contractor and how an independent contractor is um defined within our society um in such a way that we end up with dead um piece of legislation to be very honest all right so we have a motion on the floor to postpone this to January 9th is not accepting that further discussion on the motion is council member Parker I have I have a question that I would like to POS but is this are you entertaining questions on Bond's motion or council member Pinto's motion just member Pinto's motion has the floor and that is to postpone to January 9th well I I too have questions around the enforcement I think this is a very important bill I'm it it's good to now have Clarity that we're thinking about enforcement in terms of the Office of the Attorney General but it's still unclear What mechanisms businesses or one applying for a job might Leverage uh with that office so the question there being what Clarity might be gained by January 9th uh or council member bonds what Clarity do you already have that can inform my decision of how to move forward five minutes or two minutes left very very quickly um currently within this um measure this this law do o es has a role and what we were trying to do is add the Attorney General because there may be situations where actions have to be taken and one of the things that has happened um in the pass is does can collect the data but it really doesn't um do the adequate enforcement so this was adding to the existing law if you look at the um law it's it's very it's very clear okay I want to reserve some time for counil rinto if she wants to answer course um thank you for your question Council Parker I mean I will just say I have no bad intentions here of trying to kill this bill I believe in this bill I co- introduce this bill I want this bill to get passed um I think that there is more efforts to figure out our definition of employer right now has it at if you employ one person but then accepts any independent contractor earlier today we voted on a bill for minimum wage clarification so that our independent contractors can have the benefit of our minimum wage laws in the district which I think is a direction that we want to head in and so creating an entire exception class for all independent contractors may be too broad similarly with does um we need to figure out if does has the mechanisms to bring these cases what will that look like if it's against an individual employer what will that look like if it's a sole proprietorship does ogag have the Staffing right now to bring these cases um what I don't want to happen is as pass this today and then lead to more confusion um as opposed to taking a couple weeks to try to hammer out some of these details and definitions so that we can all feel confident this is not coming to me from some group or entity that is opposed to this bill this is just as I read the language and think about practical implementation concerns there are dozens of examples that come to mind that this doesn't seem as clear as it could be and I'm confident that we can get there but we need a little more time and in partnership with Council bonds and with general council's office to make sure we're passing what we intend to pass thank you fuman thank you very much chairman Mendon um council member bonds I can I can imagine the frustration you must be feeling right now because here we are u in the middle of this an inch away from the goal line um I I am a strong supporter of this bill in principle I make one observation which is we just accepted an amendment to have a date certain of June 30th and if this bill passes today it will take effect June 30th and if this bill pass passes on January 9th it will take effect on June 30th so there's I don't see any harm from waiting a couple of weeks I don't know that there's a benefit but I don't see any harm and I would say to you that I'll support this bill on January 9th in the form that you feel comfortable with but why not take a couple of weeks to make sure that council member pinto and others feel completely comfortable uh thank you council member fuman if there's nothing further uh we have the vote on the um motion to postpone to January 9th by a Voice vote all those in favor of the motion to we have a roll call vote please uh Madam Secretary would you call the role vote as on the motion to postpone to January 9th Council M Tran white no council member Tran white votes no council member Allen no council member Allen votes no council member bonds no council member bonds votes no council member fan yes council member fan votes yes council member gray yes council member gray votes yes council member Henderson no council member Henderson votes no council member L George no council member L George votes no council member McDuffy no council member McDuffy votes no chairman Mendelson no chairman Mendelson votes no council M Nell no council votes no council member Parker no council member Parker votes no council member Pinto yes council member Pinto votes yes council member Robert White no council member Robert White votes no Mr chairman there are three yeses and 10 NOS thank you Madam Secretary the motion to postpone fails Is there further on the bill um so moved with the it's already been moved and it's on the floor okay if there's nothing further on the bill uh Madame secretary you called the rooll on the last one we'll do a roll call on this the vote is on the bill is amended counc Allen yes council member Allen votes yes council member bonds yes council member Bond votes yes council member fman yes council member fuman votes yes council member gray yes council member gray votes yes council member erson yes council member Henderson votes yes council member LS George yes council member Le George votes yes council member McDuffy yes council member McDuffy votes yes chairman mson yes chairman mson votes yes council member Nell yes council member noell votes yes council member Parker yes council member Parker votes yes council member Pinto no council member Pinto votes no council member Robert White yes council member Robert White votes yes council member Tran white yes council member white votes yes Mr chairman there are 12 yeses and one no thank you Madam Secretary the bill is approved uh the next measure is PR 25-47 Board of Library trustees Maria pce confirmation resolution of 2023 council member Tron white thank you chairman um want to reintroduce um PR 25474 was Miss Maria peace to the board of Library trustees this resolution was introduced by chairman Menon on behalf of Mayor Bowser October the 5th and referred to the committee on Recreation Library youth Affairs uh the committee held a markup on November the 16th 2023 and a resolution was passed in the committee unanimously um my last legislative meeting members expressed concern of the nomination for Miss peace for one involved in a library card and lack of in engage and experience um as a result IW this measure um I since learned that Miss peace have spoke with some members uh so some are in favor some still have some reservation um today I want to urge my colleagues to uh vote in favor of Miss peace we go back and forth about not having DC residents uh who are eligible for these positions we have a number of vacant positions and Boards all throughout the district with scraping arguing back and forth and should this person be on the board if they're not from D this is a Bonafide DC resident that lives in war 7 in fact she went to school at Trinity University they got and received her master's degree in Business um and this is important to know uh because this has allowed her to get experience as has been a professional in DC um and a business owner and doing project management and some of the skills she's learned it through financial management contract engaging and dealing with the government is critical to her role on the board um of the trustees for the library I think that um uh oh I since learned also that she did indeed get her library card so this is the volunteer position um that she has been nominated for by the mayor I think we should uh support her in this nomination so I want to uh move this to a vote to get my colleague support Miss peace in a position as a board member of the library trustees here in the District of Columbia thank you chairman thank you council member white uh we have the measure before us is there discussion I heard it very quiet Mr chairman I was G to count you first council member Lewis George H thank you chairman um I want to thank council member Tron white um who coordinated the opportunity for me to have a conversation um with Miss peace uh I learned a great deal about her um her her family um her time here in the district uh growing up here in the district um and what we talked about is her using uh her and her family originally being from Dr while she's from the district uh we talked a lot about her using the position that she has uh and and what she's gain in her experience and using that position on the board to make sure that Community Voices would be centered uh that the users of the library who needed most would be centered um pushing the LI uh her using her voice on the library board to push people uh on the board to remember uh those families those communities who utilize and need the library most and we talked about um the ways in which she would be unafraid to do that to push um the library to remember the community um in in all of its discussions the community needs in all of its discussions um and the most vulnerable users of the library in that regard um uh we had a great conversation about that so um uh and we talked about our Bo for Community specifically in the needs of our library um so I want to thank Council M white for offering me the opportunity to get to know Miss peace and to have a conversation with her about war for Community needs but District needs as a whole and so I will be supporting um her nomination today um and look forward to her being a voice on the board uh that's going to push Community Voices forward thank you thank you council member council member Henderson um thank you Mr chairman uh I think since the last legislative meeting there's been a lot of conversation and discussion about this particular nominee and I want to say this it was never for me simply about a library card there are only two requirements to serve on the library Board of Trustees being a DC resident and having a demonstrated interest in library um the library card is only part of it um and frankly I didn't have any knowledge of that prior to our legislative meeting but you know I know that there are a lot of nominees who come through the council I don't ever have the anticipation or the expectation that everyone is going to be able to attend every confirmation hearing or to have a one-on-one conversation with every nominee but I do read the reports of the nominations for which I I'm not able to attend and I read the report and it gave me pause around whether or not um the second requirement was met and I'm sure I'm you know the text messages and things of that nature I just feel like there are plenty of Library lovers in the district who volunteer on the friends group who do the book sales who do all of these different things and I know colleagues will feel differently I don't um I I I do feel like I I'm GNA vote president today um I just feel as though when nominees are sent for positions like this when you're going to making fiary responsibility choices about the library system going forward that I need you to know a little bit more about it than an occasional visit um and so that's just kind of where I stand so for me this was a principle um I I I don't know Miss piece personally and I have nothing against her personally but I do feel like for the Board of Trustees um we should have a bit of a higher standard thank you Mr chairman thank you council member council member Parker yeah I I Echo uh the sentiments of council member Henderson I I did have an opportunity to speak with Miss P since our last meeting um and was reassured on a number of fronts I didn't however get a sense of a transformative nomination uh and perhaps that is not necessary I did just want to also highlight that and and dare I say this being a resident even if that's from w s does not mean you're the best qualified for a board and I think it behooves the council uh to scrutinize nominations more than we have um and so I left the conversation with Miss piece feeling as though she may be a fine addition uh but I think how she was presented to the full Council um disadvantaged her nomination so uh I do not plan to vote in favor of her I have no doubt that she may contribute to the board uh but again in the spirit of me believing we need to scrutinize nominations more and it's not enough just for you to be a district resident uh or to be nominated uh to be approved and so with that uh thank you Mr chairman thank you council member council member Robert White uh thank you Mr chairman um one of the as my colleague said two require statutory requirements for this position is a demonstrated uh knowledge which as I looked at the record for this nominee I I couldn't find I think a lot of people have visited the library a lot of people have a general interest in the library but the statutory requirement is higher than that and as far as I can tell uh has not been met as a council we have to be very careful uh the city is not in a great place government services has declined our revenues are not stable downtown is not stable and so there was a time where we could approve nominees unless there was a reason not to but this time is different with the trajectory of the city we have to scrutinize more we have to make sure that the mayor is putting forward people who are going to move the city forward otherwise we continue on the trajectory that we're on but the council has to acknowledge the role that it plays uh in this so I take no joy in it but based on the statutory requirement and the record in front of us I have to vote no on this nominee and I have to encourage us as a council to have a higher bar and higher threshold than a general interest or a warm conversation uh because again every nomination sets their trajectory for this for the city thank you Mr chairman thank you council member council member alen thanks Mr chairman um I was really torn on this one a couple of weeks ago when um my colleagues pointed out that Miss piece didn't even have a library card now it's not about the library card but it is about that's like the bare minimum of being able to show that you have an interest in our in our libraries um so I'm very glad that we actually took the step we did to delay consideration of this now what's happened in in the interim uh I'm told she has a library card so that's good um but I also know that prior to the the vote coming up a couple of weeks ago um Miss piece had not met with the head of our entire Library System um that meeting conversations happened I I reached out and I wanted to know from our our executive director what do you think about this person um I will say that I was heartened uh hearing the executive director talk to me about um having having this piece be able to talk about her relationship with libraries um that of her children and what libraries and books mean share some of the vision of what they want to do uh in the role here um and I think that's given me the the trust that I'll place and our executive director of our libraries to say this is somebody who can serve on the board and help move it forward the this isn't just a an honorific seat they set policy for the DC public libraries they help shape the decisions about where we make our investments um they they help shape the ways in which our libraries are such Civic hubs in our neighborhoods in our communities there's so much more than just grabbing a book off the shelf um I also hope though kind of echoing what my colleagues have said throughout this in the last few minutes we've got to have a higher expectation of the scrutiny of the people that are stepping forward I'm grateful for everybody who puts their hand up and says they want to help serve their city and serve on a board we are lucky to have folks that want to do that but we know that in these positions we've got to make sure somebody's got a vision somebody wants to come in to put in and do the hard work and I don't think the hard work was put in up until a couple of weeks ago and I'm heartened that we've seen some hustle and some work but I hope that for everybody and especially uh the administration as they send nominees down that they select people who meet the statutory requirements and put the hard work in on the front end um so we don't have another episode like this so I'm looking forward to supporting Miss pieace today uh I appreciate the work that's gone into this for the last couple of weeks uh and I appreciate the action this Council took to force this issue uh the way it should have been so thank you Mr chair Mr chair uh thank you um yes Mr MC Duffy just briefly I I appreciate the uh the comments by my colleagues and I I want to just State on record that I plan to support uh Miss pce today um I think part of this addition to what's been shared is you know occasionally I think the council needs to look at the the statutes that uh describe qualifications and appointments um and decide whether or not they need to be tweaked I mean some of these statutes are are really old and perhaps uh require uh some additional analysis on the part of of of the council to decide whether uh they should be changed uh I will say when nominees are put forward it shouldn't require although I think um as my colleagues do we read up on these nominees we we look at their backgrounds Etc it felt with this one though that I had to work to get the information to demonstrate that she met the requirements rather than be presented with the experience and background and qualifications that would make it easily available to members to make a decision about this in other words the work should be done by the executive to present a qualified candidate and by the time it gets to us for a vote it should be clear that this candidate is qualified I felt like a lot of folks had to do their own digging I I spoke to uh an official on the executive side I spoke to uh council member TR white additional and I'm comfortable voting for Miss piece today um but it it did require additional work uh in order to get comfortable to the point where I am today and really understand that she uh met the minimum qualification which are not a lot I mean it literally it's the bare minimum you know it is the fact that they and I'm quoting here each member of the board shall be a resident of the District of Columbia and shall have a demonstrated interest in the public library uh that demonstrated interest should jump out at us when we're reviewing the materials and we shouldn't have to do our own separate inquiries in order to find that information so I'm G to support it today but hopefully it's a lesson for future nominees thanks thank you there's no further discussion uh we'll have a Voice vote on the pr 25474 all those in favor say iair I request a roll call vote what's that uh can I request a roll call vote council member Robert White's requ requesting roll call Madam Secretary would you call the role council member bonds yes council member bonds votes yes council member fuman yes council member fuman votes yes council member gray yes council member gray votes yes council member Henderson present council member Henderson will be recorded as present council member Lewis George yes council member Le George votes yes council member McDuffy yes council member McDuffy votes yes chairman mson yes chairman mson votes yes council member noo yes council member noo votes yes council member Parker no council member Parker votes no council member Pinto yes council member Pinto votes yes council member Robert White no council member Robert White votes no council member Tran white yes council member Tran white votes yes council member Allen yes council member Allen votes yes Mr chairman there are 10 yeses two Nos and one present thank you Madam Secretary the resolution is approved uh we have temporary legislation final reading Bill 255-5895 coun member white thank you chairman uh so moved and then I have an amendment uh to this bill on the agenda please proceed um right now we are in the middle of negotiations with the executive about how to best uh phase in new Green Building standards for affordable housing development that we plan to subsidize over the next few years to make room for those negotiations and avoid killing some ongoing projects we initially decided to exempt buildings for which we committed funding by December 31st then the executive clarified that some of the projects we already grandfathered in are actually going to keep getting funding commitments through as late as March through the dchfa January application process so earlier this month I introduced a new round of emergency legislation plus the temporary bill before us extending the funding commitment deadline a few months the effect of the new temp is to overwrite the old Temp and make it obsolete my Amendment today just makes the implicit repeal of the prior legislation explicit at the request of our advisers in the office of the general councel I move my amendment number one which I circulated last week and which is linked to today's agenda uh thank you council member white um if there's no objection the amendment will be accepted hearing no objection the amendment is accepted further on the bill um hold on a sec uh so we have the bills amended uh this secretary will call the role council member fuman yes council member fuman votes yes council member gray yes council member gray votes yes council member Henderson council member Henderson votes yes council member LS George yes counc member L George votes yes council member McDuffy yes McDuff council member McDuffy votes yes chairman Mendon yes chairman mson votes yes council member noo yes counc member noo votes yes council member Parker yes council member Parker votes yes council member Pinto yes council member Pinto votes yes council member Robert White yes council member Robert White votes yes council member Tran white yes council member Tran white votes yes council member Allen yes council member Allen votes yes and council member bonds yes council member bonds votes yes Mr chairman there are 13 yeses thank you Madam Secretary the bill as amended is approved unanimously the next item is Bill 25- 594 scery program extension temporary Amendment Act of 2023 counc McDuffy so move discussion hold on for a second Mr chairman thanks Mr chairman actually I'mma move to postpone the measure for consideration till our January 9th legislative meeting my team and I have been in discussions with uh DT as well as with council member uh and D expects a release the street program regulations for public comment by the time the emergency measure expires so upon uh that release the plan would be to move the temporary legislation for final vote I so the um the Bill's been moved and then there's been a motion to postpone to January 9th legislative meeting if there's no objection the motion to postpone the January 9th will be accepted hearing no objection it's postponed to January 9th the next measure is Bill 25599 hotel cleaning and notice of service Interruption temporary Amendment Act of 2023 council member bonds um thank you chairman um today I'm urging my colleagues to support this um for our final um vote on the hotel enhanced cleaning and notice of service disruption um temporary Amendment Act of 2023 as you note earlier this year we passed the hotel enhancement um cleaning and notice disruption um emergency um act and this temporary legislation uh really just follows suit authorizing the mayor to issue regulations that establish requirements for cleaning um and the maintenance of our hotel and and motels um as you know the tourist industry continues to rebound as EV evid by recent data Trends travel and tourism industry in our city generates up to 7.1 billion dollar annually in the pre pandemic years including $2 billion dollar in spending on hotel rooms alone most recently at the DC chamber uh program of this week it was pointed out that our hotels are again booming so it makes sense for us to to continue uh authorizing the mayor to um intercede in this industry by actually issuing regulations that would establish requirements for cleaning and maintaining our hotels and uh motels um and so that's what this um piece of legislation would do thank you chairman and I move the temporary legislation uh we have the temporary before us is there discussion uh the vote will be on uh Bill 25- 599 uh roll call Madam Secretary council member gray yes council member gray votes yes council member Henderson yes council member Henderson votes yes council member Lewis George yes council member Le George votes yes council member McDuffy yes council member McDuffy votes yes chairman mson yes chairman mson votes yes council member nadell yes counc noo votes yes council member Parker yes council member Parker votes yes council member Pinto no council member Pinto votes no council member Robert White yes council member Robert White votes yes council member Tran white yes council member Tran white votes yes council member Allen yes council member Allen votes yes council member bonds yes council member bonds votes yes council member Freeman yes counc from refan votes yes Mr chairman there are 12 yeses and one no thank you Madam Secretary the bill is approved approved turning to emergency legislation the first measure I want to thank council member Robert White for keeping us in business today the first measure is introduced by him fairness and renting notice clarification emergency declaration resolution of 2023 pr25 d564 council member white uh thank you chairman and happy to help under previous DC law housing providers were required to give at least 30 days notice to ten before increasing rents however 30 days wasn't always enough time for tenants to get their finances in order to manage an increase therefore this fall Council increased the notice period from 30 to 60 days under the fairness and renting clarification Amendment Act of 2023 that bill uh took effect on November 28th which started the new 60-day timeline but if any housing provider planed to increase rents before January 28th they could not comply with the 60-day requirement they would have had to to issue notices before the law took effect similarly any provider who planned for a February rent increase would be out of compliance if they did not give tenants notice during the month of December this includes any February 1 rent increases for which notice would have been required by December 1st just three days after the law took effect this legislation is necessary to give providers a reasonable window to comply with the 60-day notice requirement while also ensuring tenants get the notice they need to prepare to pay more in rent this legislation was suggested by aoba and has been discussed in advance with the office of the tenant Advocate I think everyone is on the same page here with that I move the fairness and renting notice clarification emergency declaration resolution of 20123 thank you council member R right we have the resolution before us there's no discussion we'll have a roll call on the resolution Madam Secretary council member Henderson yes council member Henderson votes yes council member Le George yes council member leis George votes yes council member McDuffy yes council member McDuffy votes yes chairman melson yes chairman mlon votes yes council member Nido yes council member Nido votes yes council member Parker yes council member Parker votes yes council member Pinto yes council member Pino votes yes council member Robert White yes council member Robert White votes yes council member Tran white yes council member Tran white votes yes council member Allan yes council member Allen votes yes council member Von yes council member bonds votes yes council member fuman yes council member Freeman votes yes council member gray yes council member gray votes yes Mr chairman there are 13 yeses thank you Madam Secretary the Declaration is approved unanimously we have the underlying Bill Bill 25- 626 council member white so mov Mr chairman discussion uh since the Declaration was approved unanimously we could do a Voice vote on the bill all those in favor say I I I I are there any opposed I'll don't see or hear any no votes the eyes have it unanimously the next measure is PR 25565 home purchase assistance program protection declaration resolution of 2023 council member Robert White thank you chairman 45 years ago the district began a program to increase home ownership among residents the home purchase assistance program or hpap has supported thousands of residents with interest-free loans and closing cost assistance last fall the maximum amount of the loans went from $80,000 to $22,000 per applicant depending on the applicant's income the way this works is a resident will apply to hpap and if qualified will receive a notice of Eligibility that notice is is typically good for one year meaning a person must close in a home within that time in June of this year Council began receiving calls from hpap eligible residents who were stuck the Department of Housing and Community Development had announced that the hpap money was gone residents lenders and Realtors were shocked they hadn't seen this coming and they had already invested thousands on inspections and purchasing costs they were supposed to have a year to close and couldn't have predicted this earlier unknown deadline but there was still some hope the announcement said that people with notices of Eligibility quote will be considered once additional funding becomes available estimated to be on or about October 1st 2023 end quote so while this was a major bump especially for those who would have to start over and find another property to buy it wasn't the end of the road hpap eligible residents worked hard over the summer to close Loose Ends so they could be ready when more funding was available October came and dhcd ISS issued another announcement hpap would reopen October 11th with $26.2 million in available loan assistance dhcd also committed to providing weekly updates on funding availability no more surprises this was great news for some residents caught in the summer funding shortage they were ready to finally move forward and into their new homes this should have been it but it wasn't later in the announcement dhcd wrote that hpap loans could no longer exceed 30% of the cost of a property nor could hpap loans be more than the First Trust mortgage this meant that for hpap eligible residents who had compiled packages and held tight for months until funding was available but who no longer met the new criteria would lose once again Council received more calls and emails residents lenders and Realtors wrote letters to dhcd urging them to reconsider or to at least offer exceptions as they said they would the letters included their experiences as local local and federal government employees the efforts they had taken to improve their credit scores for this moment and their visions of retiring in these homes dhcd denied all but one of them DC government created hope and then changed the rules mid game that's not fair to our constituents this is not the way to build trust among residents or in the real estate Community nor is it a way to help residents build wealth in fact without this measure the new policy will hurt firsttime home buyers the black home ownership Strike Force report uh 30 seconds Mr chairman so Grant uh 30 Seconds J one minute without objection thank you um the black home ownership Strike Force report clearly lays out the barriers black residents face in attempting to find and purchase a home we should not allow the DC government to be another barrier to those who need the support the most the legislation I'm moving today simply allows people already deemed eligible to move forward with hpap under the same rules that existed when they entered the program they too deserve access to the remaining 6 million in available hpap funding with that I mov the home purchase assistance program protection emergency declaration resolution of 20123 thank you council member we have the Declaration before us is there a discussion council member Parker thank you and thank you council member white uh for your work to ensure uh that eligibility changes to the home purchase assistance program does not pull the rug out from hardworking District residents I will be voting yes and wanted to take a moment to express serious concern about the mismanagement of the hpap program by the Department of Housing and Community Development over a year ago to much Fan Fair mayor Bowser announced that dhcd would be increasing the amount of assistance that hpap would provide on paper that was a wonderful and welcome change however the ensuing months have demonstrated just how ill-prepared the agency was to actually deliver on that promise instead of budgeting for that increased assistance to deliver on the promise made to prospective homeowners dhcd burned through funds until they were gone the result of this mismanagement is that num numerous District residents who had relied on hpap spent thousands of dollars out of pocket to prepare for home purchases and were suddenly told that assistance was no longer available to them worse when funds were restored in the new fiscal year dhcd appears to have had no plan to make good on the Promises previously made instead many residents have discovered this fall that they are no longer eligible for hpap either because of rule changes dhcd has P pushed or because their own personal circumstances have changed home ownership is more than a financial Milestone it is a core component of our efforts to build stable Healthy Communities by not following following through on its promise to hpap applicants dhcd is not just altering the course of individual lives but also by compromising trust in District government we must ensure that the path to home ownership in the district is reliable and due right by every resident who relies on our promises uh to fulfill their dream of calling Washington DC their permanent home so again I do plan uh to vote for this emergency and encourage my colleagues to do the same thank you Mr chairman thank you council member if there's no further discussion we have the Declaration before us Madame secretary would you call the role Council Lewis George yes council member Le George votes yes council member McDuffy yes council member McDuffy votes yes chairman mson yes chairman mson votes yes council member yes Council Mido votes yes council member Parker yes council member Parker votes yes council member Pinto yes council member Pinto votes yes council member Robert White yes council member Robert White votes yes counc M Tron white yes council member trayon white votes yes yes counc Tran white can you turn your camera on for me please I'll come back counc member Allen yes council member Allen votes yes council member bonds yes council member bonds votes yes did council member fan yes council member fan votes yes council member gray yes council member gray votes yes council member Henderson yes council member Henderson votes yes council member Tron white yes can you turn your camera on thank you thank you so much Mr chairman there are 13 yeses thank you Madame secretary uh the Declaration is approved unanimously uh for those who are participating virtually the secretary requires that members have their camera on when they're voting uh we have the bill bill 25628 council member white so moved Mr chairman discussion the vote will be on Bill 25- 628 since the Declaration was approved unanimously we could do a Voice vote all those in favor say I I I I are there any no votes I don't see your hear any no votes the bill is approved unanimously the next measure is pr25 d562 reverse mortgage insurance and tax payment program second extension emergency declaration resolution of 2023 council member Robert White thank you chairman the reverse mortgage foreclosure prevention Amendment Act of 2018 established the DC Housing Finance agencies reverse mortgage insurance and tax payment program or remit remit was created to pay overdue property taxes and insurance for reverse mortgage borrowers who might lose their homes to foreclosure because of non-payment of taxes subsequently we added con condominium fees and homeowners association fees as well the program is strictly for seniors over the age of 62 and was originally funded with $500,000 since the original pilot program expired remit has been extended through a number of emergency and temporary measures the most recent emergency and temporary passed by this body unanimously and would expire on January 25th council member bonds introduced a permanent version of this legislation and our committee held a hearing on it in October and is moving toward markup at the hearing dchfa indicated their support for the legislation but noted that the program had effectively been paused for the duration of the pandemic due to Alternative sources of funding we expect to get an update from DCH HFA on getting this money out the door during our upcoming oversight hearing before I close I want to thank council member bond for continued work on this program which provides an opportunity to help our seniors stay in their homes thank you chairman thank you council member we have the Declaration before us is there discussion uh we'll have a roll call vote on the Declaration pr25 d562 Madam Secretary Council McDuffy yes Council McDuffy votes yes chairman Mendelson yes yes chairman Mendelson votes yes council member Nido yes council member Nido votes yes council member Parker yes council member Parker votes yes council member Pinto yes council member Pinto votes yes council member Robert Wade yes council member Robert White votes yes council member Tron white yes council member trayon white votes yes council member Allan yes council member Allan votes yes council member bonds yes council member bonds votes yes council member fuman yes council member fuman votes yes council member gray yes council member gray votes yes council member Henderson yes council member Henderson votes yes council member Le George yes council member leis George votes yes Mr chairman they have 13 yeses thank you Madam Secretary the Declaration is approved unanimously we have the underlying Bill Bill 25-622 council member white so moved discussion since the Declaration was approved unanimously we'll do a Voice vote on the bill this is Bill 25-622 all those in favor say I I I I well it was more participation from the folks virtual than in person uh are there any no votes a little more liveliness here I'm not seeing or hearing any no votes the eyes have it unanimously residing officer always likes to hear the A's and nays the next measure is pr25 d563 certificate of assurance moratorium second extension emergency declaration resolution of 2023 council member Robert White thank you Mr chairman this legislation maintains an existing moratorium on applications for and the mayor's issuance of certificates of assurance associated with District rent stabilization laws Council unanimously passed the initial moratorium in 2020 the legislation around certificates of assurance would supposedly allow owners of housing that is not subject to rent control to apply for a certificate that would guarantee the owner the difference between fair market rent and rent controlled rent should the housing ever be placed under rent control this program has never taken effect and no regulations have been issued in part because doing so would negatively impact the ability of the district to ever make any changes to rent stabilization should we choose to do so a permanent version of this legislation was just introduced by council member Henderson and our committee intends to review it next year thank you chairman thank you council member your discussion we'll have a roll call vote on the Declaration pr25 d563 Madam Secretary chairman mson yes chairman mson votes yes council member Nell yes council member votes yes council member Parker yes council member Parker votes yes council member Pinto yes council member Pinto votes yes council member Robert White yes council member Robert White votes yes council member Tran white yes council member Tran white votes yes council member Allen yes council member Allen votes yes council member bonds yes council member bonds votes yes council member Freeman yes council member Freeman votes yes council member gray yes council member gray votes yes council member Henderson yes council member Henderson votes yes council member Le George yes council member Le George votes yes counc M McDuffy yes Council M McDuffy votes yes Mr chairman there have 13 yeses thank you Madam Secretary the Declaration is approved unanimously we have the underlying Bill Bill 25- 624 Madam uh excuse me council member Robert White so moved discussion since the Declaration was approved unanimously we can have a Voice vote on this bill 25- 624 all those in favor say I I I I are there any no votes uh the eyes have it unanimously and uh everyone who spoke out will get a gold star for actually speaking out thank you if there's no objection we'll consider the four Temporaries in Block um since the emergency versions were approved unanimously that would be Bill 25627 fairness and renting notice clarification temporary Bill 25629 home purchase assistance program protection temporary Bill 25- 623 reverse mortgage insurance and tax payment program second extension temporary and Bill 25- 625 certificate of assurance moratorium second extension temporary hearing no objection to before us hearing no discussion um by Voice vote all those in favor of the four temporar say I I I I are there any opposed yes have it unanimously there'll be a second round of gold stars Madam Secretary you'll make sure those get distributed uh that's going to conclude the business for this meeting the next legislative meeting is January 9th that's the second Tuesday of January and as I said before there probably will be a committee to hold before that uh the time is oh yes yes I'm being told not to adjourn yet uh Happy holidays to everybody happy New Year but we have a whole year to be happy so let's start off right and then spend the whole year being happy and I was tempted to say this earlier but it's a time of Goodwill and peace so I'm glad that resolution finally got through time is 132 in the afternoon in this meeting is ajed You' been waiting yeah he's been holding that one yes holding that one we had Christian to thank for that I don't think anybody got