n this Marquez can you come on for me please Nasha can you can you come on for me Nasha I see you on can you do me a count sure testing 109876 54321 thank you nsh do you see see the room yes I do great thank you Kenneth can you show me the room I'm good thank you all right thanks deployment yeah I mean I live e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e I think we should I am calling to order this meeting this is a regular meeting of the committee of the whole of the Council of the District of Columbia I am Phil mson chair of the council and chair of the committee of the whole today is Tuesday September 17 2024 the time is 1:30 13 in the afternoon and we are meeting in room 500 of the Johnny Wilson building although I believe one member is participating virtually uh this is our this is a regular meeting of the committee the whole we have a number of measures for markup in the committee of the hall as well as a number of measures that have been reported out of other committees that pass through the committee of the whole for the um uh for um um what do we call it um uh making sure they comply with our rules and so the legislative meeting which will be an additional legislative meeting will start after this committee the whole the um this meeting as I said is in room 500 it is being broadcast on Council chable Council cable channel 13 that's uh cable television providers and it's also available on the council's website which is www.dc.gov uh we first need to make sure that we have a quum of members Mr Cash would you call the role please chairman Mendon president council member Allen here council member bonds here council member fruman present council member gray here council member Henderson here council member Lewis George here council member McDuffy here council member nidau here council member Parker here council member Pinto present council member Robert White present council member Tran White counc TR white Mr chairman yum uh thank you Mr Cash uh we have the secretary's report of committee filings I'm going to recognize the chair protm Mr McDuffy thank you chairman I'm going to move to wave the reading of the secretary's report there a motion to wave the reading of the report is there discussion yes Mr chair this is on the uh committees committee filings okay never mind Mr chairman um if there is no further discussion on the motion to wave the reading of the secretary's report of committee filings all those in favor say I I I I I opposed uh the eyes have it unanimously uh we have the reading of the secretary's log of introductions and referrals again I'll recognized to chair protm council member McDuffy and I will move to wave the reading of the secretary's log of introductions and referrals it's been a motion to wave the reading of the log is there discussion council member Pinto thank you very much Mr chairman um I would like to ask for you to reconsider a re-referral of a bill that may have been inadvertent in 2021 I introduced a bill called the fun act which is around additional Community engagement input when uh the mayor decides to utilize public property for another purpose than initially intended um this bill has was sequentially referred to the committee on Recreation libraries and youth Affairs and the committee on business Economic Development the committee on Recreation Li libraryies youth Affairs had a markup on the bill and approved it in November of 2022 in July of 2023 the fund Act was reintroduced because of the new Council period the fund Act was again sequentially referred to CED and R ya uh which again had a markup of the bill and approved it again so now this bill is under consideration for the committee on business Economic Development My Hope Is that we may be able to move it before the end of the council period um and I worry that re-refer it again to two additional new committees is just going to hold it up procedurally uh for a bill that's already gone through three years of process do you know the bill number Bill 25- 427 uh let me take it under advisement if I'm going to do a re-referral I could do that on October 1st okay thank you very much Mr chair Mr chairman henders um I wanted to ask a question about the referral for um Bill 25- 947 the entertainment establishment employee safety Amendment act 2024 um You referred it to the committee of the whole with comments from the committee on business and economic development even though it um pertains to specific issues dealing with the committee on business and economic development as it deals with um alcohol licenses and um retailers yes I don't have the bill in front of me so I do not remember why I made the referral that way but I do remember I believe the referrals to the committee of the whole with comments from business and economic development um do you want to send me a memo explaining the giving me the arguments sure okay I do believe that if it was just being referred to the committee on business and economic development we can address this issue in a more full sum management given this is a bill you introduced yes sir yes and I believe it was introduced just this week yes so I'd be happy to look at your reasoning okay thank you yes uh anything further we haven't had this much excitement over the uh log in many months uh the motion is to wave the reading of the log and as I said I will look at both of these bills for October 1st uh all those in favor of the motion to wave the reading of the log say I I I opposed uh the ODS have it unanimously uh we have a number of measures for markup in the committee the whole the uh first is the is Bill 25287 entitled counseling compact approval Act of 2024 this bill was sequentially referred first to the committee on Health chaired by council member Henderson and then the Comm the whole the committee of the whole has not U made any significant changes maybe even zero changes to what the committee on health U marked up and so I'm going to turn to council member Henderson to explain the bill um thank you Mr chairman Bill 25- 287 the counseling compact Act of 2024 was introduced by council member gray along with council members Freeman Allan myself on May 5th 2023 this was jointly referred to the committee of the whole and the committee on health the bill authorizes the mayor to enter into an interstate counseling compact enabling licensed professional counselors to practice in other member states without needing additional licenses the compact standardizes um licensure requirements and disciplinary processes ensuring consistency across States while preserving each State's regulatory Authority it establishes the counceling compact commission to oversee implementation maintain a coordinated license sh database and ensure compliance the compact facilitates data sharing supports military families by easing lure portability and aims to enhance public access to professional Counseling Services by reducing the barriers to Interstate practice I want to note that the national counseling compact has not started issuing privileges just yet um it is working towards granting privileges by the end of 20124 pending the full implementation of the required database and application systems which are still in development the committee on health unanimously marked up this bill on June 20th 2024 and I'm happy to see us moving it forward in the committee of the whole I encourage my my colleagues to support it thank you uh thank you council member Henderson this bill is before us for a markup what's being voted on is comme print attached to the committee the whole report but as I said it's the same as what the committee on health uh moved um if there's no further discussion the vote will be on the print with Lee for staff to make Technical and conf pering changes all those in favor of the print say I I I I I opposed uh the vote is unanimously in favor I'll move the report this would be the commune the whole Report with lead for staff to make technical conforming and editorial changes is there discussion by Voice vote all those in favor say I I I I I opposed uh the ODS have it unanimously and the record should not council member TR white is present uh the next oh excuse me it's been a while since I've done this Madam general counsel is to measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is I'm secretary's direct record complete once the report is filed would that be the report of the committee the whole yes sir and otherwise the record is complete yes sir Adam budget director does the measure's fiscal impact statement comply with Council requirements yes it does is there a fiscal impact no without objection this measure will be placed on the consent agenda for today's additional legislative meeting uh the next measure for markup is Bill 25-57 entitled cardiac planning and response CPR Amendment Act of 2024 this bill builds upon language and the school year 2017 budget support Act of 2016 which mandated the placement of an automated external defibrillator or AED in every school that would be readily available for athletic events and also required AED in cardiopulmonary recitation or CPR training for athletic coaches trainers and School nurses bill 25-57 the bill before us would amend that law to require each school to adopt a cardiac emergency response plan or C cerp the CP would set guidelines for who on a school staff would respond to a cardiac arrest and how they would respond to such an event the CP also considers staff training maintenance of aeds and dissemination of the plan how recent high-profile cases have brought national attention ition to sudden cardiac arrest in young people particularly in school settings and during athletic activities approximately 23,000 children under the age of 18 experienced Cardiac Arrest annually in the United States sudden Cardiac Arrest can be in youth can be deadly but is testified to by the fire and Emergency Medical Services assistant fire chief Andre Edwards with quick action to restore the victim's heart rate to life of survival increases dramatically bill 25-57 again the bill before standardizes the response across schools through requiring the adoption of CPS so that school staff across the city are prepared to respond quickly to cardiac arks adopting CPS is not a novel concept A number of states have mandated CPS in their schools and the report lists the states the committee print requires the Office of the State superintendent for education or Ai and fire and Emergency Medical Services to collaborate to develop model CPS that schools could adopt while not all sudden cardiac arrests are preventable with the appropriate training procedures and emergency response highlighted to be highlighted in a CP we can prevent deaths for that reason the committee assuming that this is adopted recommends the adoption of the committee print for Bill 25 - 570 uh this bill was introduced on November 9th 2023 by Council M McDuffy and co-introduced by eight members the committee of the whole held a hearing on this bill on July 10th of this year and as I recall there was no testimony or comments in opposition to the bill uh I moved print with leave for staff to make Technical and conforming changes is there discussion Mr chairman Council mcdu uh just wanted to to thank you and your team for working with me and my team uh as you will note I introduced this bill alongside eight of my colleagues um because all students and student athletes in particular deserve to receive high quality and immediate life saving care response to cardiac arrest and as a father of two student athletes this legislation takes on special importance to me uh this bill expands upon the work that I led as chairperson of the committee on Judiciary in 2015 some will recall that I introduced the office of unified Communications training CPR and modernization Amendment Act of 2015 among many other things this bill required the office of unified Communications and fims to conduct a district-wide CPR training program for district students employees and residents the council expanded upon Incorporated this bill in the fiscal year 2017 budget support Act of 2016 this law additionally mandated the placement of an AED in every school that would be readily available for every athletic event required an AED and CPR training for every athletic coach trainer and school nurse and mandated public and public charter high schools to provide CPR and AED training this law also requires schools to establish procedures for responding to cardiac arrest and I want to thank again you and your team for working with us to get this bill ready to be passed so that we can start working with our schools and agencies to ensure that our students uh continue to be safe I'd also like to thank the American Heart Association and 2023 Miss District of Columbia Jude maon for working with me and my team on this bill and as I mentioned during the uh the breakfast meeting earlier this morning I definitely want to work with you and your team between first reading and second reading to uh perhaps amend the bill to address some of the concerns with certain language that the American Heart Association has raised uh with our staffs and so I'm hoping that you you're willing to have that conversation perhaps uh make slight tweaks to make this bill even better uh thank you councelor McDuffy of course I'll be happy to work with you uh further discussion on the on the print uh the vote will be on the print with Lea for staff all those in favor say I I I I opposed the eyes have it unanimously I'm going to move the report with Lee for St technical conforming and editorial changes is there discussion on the report all those in favor say I opposed yes have it unanimously mam General council is to measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is mam secretary is the record complete once the report is filed mam budget director does the measures fiscal impact statement comply with Council requirements yes it does is there a fiscal impact there is not without objection this measure will be placed on the consent agenda for today's additional legislative meeting the next measure for markup in the committee the whole is Bill 25581 medical cannabis clarification and program enforcement Amendment Act 2024 this bill was referred sequentially first to the committee on business and economic development shared by Council M McDuffy and then to the committee of the whole uh I'm going to turn first to council member McDuffy if you want to present anything regarding this Bill thank you chairman uh and not to to rehash all the details that uh you're going to describe in your statement um so I'm going to try to make this brief with brief and air quotes um this bill makes permanent several of the emergencies that I in produced and the council has passed on the medical cannabis program and goes beyond those emergencies to create a strong regulatory framework for a medical Canabis program in the District of Columbia this bill has been years of work between all of the emergencies Community input and input from members of this body that I've receiv received from constituents as well and those in the industry uh and significant research made by my team Donnie Crawford in particular the Chairman's team and members of other of my colleagues in their teams and so I want to acknowledge all that work uh that's been done on this bill as well as with apca and their team the office of Attorney General uh Council offices public stakeholders when we got it to mark up in the committee of business Nom development before went to Cal I'm happy to see the collaboration between our offices from over the summer uh come to fruition and the committee print with the changes made to the protest process ABC Board licensing considerations for daycares and additional Clarity for preschools after ced's markup and I want to thank council member Allen and his team for working with me uh and my team doing the CID markup process also want to thank all the public stakeholders um because there have been many who have worked with my office over the years to help inform the council's medical cannabis policy and finally um I think I did this twice but it looks like it's the third time I want to thank the chairman and his staff for working with my staff particularly uh my legislative director Donnie Crawford for getting this where we are today thank you Mr McDuffy so let me speak a little further what we'll be voting on is the committee print attached to the committee the whole report uh this bill would allow the alcoholic beverage and cannabis Administration or ABA to issue temporary non-resident medical cannabis registration cards valid for up to a year would allow APPA to wave the application fee for Testing Laboratories it would allow licensed Testing Laboratories to receive and test samples from medical cannabis patients and conduct quality assurance and research and development for cultivation centers and manufacturers it would amend the definition of social Equity applicant to include qualifying arrests and convictions of family [Music] members it allows APPA to extend the public comment period for medical cannabis licenses it clarifies which persons standing to protest the issuance of a license it clarifies that ABA has the authority to issue cease and desist letters to unlicensed establishments and it clarifies that ABA has authority to take enforcement actions against commercial property owners renting to unlicensed establishments the committee print which is what we'll be voting on uh from the committee the whole builds off of the print approved by the committee on business and economic development by requiring the alcoholic beverage and cannabis board to consider the proximity and impacts of a medical cannabis retailer on nearby daycare centers granting standing to protest a medical cannabis retail license to AB budding property owners and Commercial tenants revising the basis on which persons withstanding May protest medical cannabis retails licenses and expanding the ABA board's ability to fine and summarily close an unlicensed establishment I don't intend to go through all the details of the bill but I was asked to speak to um why um the committee print does not uh have a buffer requirement that's different for daycare centers and there are two reasons that are outlined in the report uh first it would significantly impact the ability of medical cannabis retailers to find suitable storefront locations there are currently 458 Li daycare centers in the district many of which are clustered in or around commercial or mixed zoning districts which are districts that are otherwise appropriate for um cannabis facilities uh second uh tle 25 does not include H25 is the um ABC regulations does not include daycare centers as a sensitive site for alcoholic beverage licenses and so it would be distinguishing cannabis which in many ways is has there's less evidence around it being uh having um what do I Want to Say nuisance factors the district's canab medical cannabis Market is at a critical juncture unlicensed cannabis establishments have proliferated and the current medical cannabis law lacks sufficient Clarity on key issues such as standing to protest the bill before us remedies the situation by setting clear standards for licens protests centralizing enforcement Authority with the ABC board or ABA strengthening existing enforcement Authority and giving business owners who are trying to do the right thing more time to comply with the law given the importance of all of these changes to the Vitality of our medical cannabis market and to the safety and health of the district residents the committee assuming that this is adopted recommends Council approval of the print for bill 25581 this bill was introduced by myself and Council on November 21st 2023 that was Bill 25- 581 it um was reintroduced on February 5th 2024 as Bill 25691 oops two different bills yes I'm misspeaking here so this bill is Bill 25581 plus bill 25691 so Bill 25 - 581 was introduced on November 21st a year ago bill 25691 was introduced on February 5th of this year that was introduced by council member Allan and McDuffy and myself the committee of the whole and the committee on business and economic development held a joint public hearing on March 6th of this year the committee on business and economic development marked up the bill on July 3rd and now we have the print and report for us for the committee of the whole I move the print again this is the print attached to the committee the whole report I with leave for staff to make Technical and conforming changes on the print is there discussion Mr chairman council member Allen thank you Mr chairman first uh let me thank you and your staff for working hard on this bill throughout the summer let me extend that as well to councelor McDuffy and his staff on the previous work with the committee and again this summer um I will obviously say it continues to be a grave Injustice the district that Congress continues to prohibit us from establishing a regulated recreational cannibalism Market while our current system is probably one that we wouldn't have initially designed we've had to be creative to ensure that the district residents have a safe and trusted medical cannabis Marketplace one important piece of that system is enforcement I can provide a long history of how we got to where we are today but suffice to say that today there are too many unlicensed illegal establishments that are flagrantly violating our laws and unwilling to come into compliance cents and it's had a negative impact on our neighborhoods throughout the district this Council has worked hard to create Pathways for unlicensed businesses to come into compliance and to find their way this Council has led the way in creating Equity emphasis in making sure that the licensed process is able to be fair and keeps Equity front of mind but residents are frustrated with the lack of enforcement on illegal and unlicense businesses after all that time now I introduced emergency measures that the council passed earlier this year when during the openland application period for unlicensed establishments to come into that compliance with the medical cannabis program several issues came to the Forefront first it was unclear who had standing to protest the issuance of a license to an unlicensed establishment second the enforcement scheme had some glaring deficiencies such as agency coordination and unfunded Provisions third there were concerns about the ability of the Department of Licensing consumer protection to issue fines to commercial property owners in whose properties illegal cannabis establishments were operating Bill 25691 the cannabis program enforcement Amendment Act of 2024 which would make that emergency measure I just talked about permanent is included in this committee print and I want to thank again the chairman councelor McDuffy for incorporating it throughout this entire legislative process I want to end by expressing a little bit of frustration and optimism about the way forward recently it's been concerning the district has just basically been playing a game of whacka mole with these unlicensed illegal establishments for every unlicensed establishment that gets a warning letter or fine or a seasoned assist order it feels like there's a new establishment that opens up just down the block and then ABA has to start the process all over again it's got to stop it's been a long process to make sure that ABA has the enforcement tools it needs to ensure compliance across the board and I want to work to make sure that ABA is doing more that their board has the tools they need to enforce our laws I think this legislation is going to go a long way and helping the agency with enforcement responsibility but we need to see the executive enforce the laws that are on the books so with that I look forward to supporting this measure today Mr chairman again appreciate the hard work that got us here thank you council member uh further on the bill again the vote is on the print the commit the whole print with leave for staff to make Technical and conforming changes all those in favor say I I opposed the eyes have it unanimously I move the report with leave for staff to make technical conforming and editorial changes is there discussion on the report all those in favor say I I I opposed the eyes have it unanimously Madame General council is the measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is mam secretary's record complete once the report is filed and that would be the committee the whole report yes Sir and Madame budget director 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 Mr chairman can you please not place it on the consent agenda not have this on the consent agenda okay the uh next measure for markup is Bill 25-654 protecting adjacent and adjoining property owners from construction damage Amendment Act of 2024 give me just a second here uh this bill would amend the construction codes approval and amendments Act of 198 6 to require permit holders to have insurance that covers damage to adjacent and adjoining properties for three additional permit types So currently the law requires insurance that covers damage to adjacent adjoining properties for a number of different types of permits and this bill would add to it alteration and repair permits where the applicant is engaging in underpinning or related construction activities it would add Foundation permits and it would add new building permits the bill also amends the definition of adjacent property and strikes a provision in the code requiring the department of buildings to publish insur insurance quotes from six insurance companies the for the last couple years the department of buildings has been working on regulations to implement the law that was first passed in 2022 that I referenced the moment ago as the department of buildings was drafting the regulations they realized that there were gaps with respect to the permits covered by the law as a result this legislation was introduced an addition emergency legislation was approved by the Council on April 2nd of 2024 and it forms the basis of the bill before us today as introduced Bill 25- 654 only expands the list of permits covered under the law and though are the permanence I mentioned a minute ago the committee print incorporates several additional changes that have been recommended by the department of buildings first the print strikes language in the definition of adjacent properties requiring an adjacent property to be quote separated by an alley or public space from the real property for which the permit is applied unquote this ensures that homes that do not abut one another but are not separated by an alley or other public space are covered by the law second the print strikes a provision in the law that requires the department of buildings to publish at least six insurance quotes from licensed providers for applicable construction permits the department of buildings has been working closely with the building industry and the insurance industry in drafting regulations as such requirements to publish quotes serves no purpose this bill bill 25-654 was introduced at the request of the mayor on January 4th of this year Committee of the whole held a public hearing on this bill on July 11th of this year I move the re uh print with Le for staff to make Technical and conforming changes is their discussion on the print with Le for staff all those in favor say I I I I are there any opposed hearing none the print is approved unanimously I move the report with leave for staff to make technical confirming and editorial changes is our discussion on the report all those in favor say I I I opposed yeah I just have it unanimously Madam General council is to measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is mam secretary is the record complete once the report report is filed Madame budget director does the measure's fiscal impact statement comply with Council requirements yes it does is there a fiscal impact there is there is not without objection this measure will be placed on the consent agenda for today's additional legislative meeting uh the next uh measure for markup is Bill 25- 737 which depending upon where one is reading has different titles but uh it's being moved as the general contractor licensing Amendment Act of 2024 this bill would establish a board to oversee the lure of construction managers and general contractors Define a scope of practice for construction managers and general contractors it would establish eligibility criteria for construction manager and general contractor licenses it would require construction managers and general contractors to demonstrate their financial responsibility or post assurity bond and it would create a residential and Commercial contractor guaranteeing education fund to enable District residents to recover unpaid damages I want to emphasize that that fund based on the experience in other states may not cover 100% of 100% of claims but it certainly would be a significant improvement over the current situation in fact currently there is no occupational license requirement for general contractors in the district or for construction managers as a result of this deficiency in our laws consumers in the district often deal with unscrupulous contractors who do not have sufficient experience misrepresent themselves or their capabilities or are not financially responsible Bill 25737 aims to rectify the current situation by establishing a board to oversee the lure of construction managers and general contractors defining a scope of practice for construction managers and general contractors establishing eligibility criteria for construction manager and general contractor licenses requiring construction managers and general contractors to demonstrate their financial responsibility or post assurity bond and creating a residential Commercial contractor guarantee an education fund to enable District residents to recover unpaid damages currently the district lacks robust licensure require ments for construction managers or general contractors in fact it pretty much lacks any requirements for licenses other than a business basic business license this enables General Contractors with a record of poor workmanship negligence fraud or deceit to operate in the district with minimal consequences additionally our laws do not provide consumers with any mechanisms to recover damages for poor workmanship or negligence the bill before activiz these Dynamics by establishing a board to oversee the lure and I'm not going to repeat everything I've already said the importance of these changes cannot be understated as there are countless examples of consumers all across the district who would benefit from the changes made by Bill 25- 737 this bill was introduced on March 1st of this year by myself and council members pinto and Janice Lewis George the committee the whole held a public hearing on this bill on July 11th of this year I move the print with lead for staff to make Technical and conforming changes is there discussion on the print with leave for staff all those in favor say I I I are there any opposed uh the eyes have it unanimously I move the report with leave for staff to make technical conforming and editorial changes is there discussion by a Voice vote all those in favor say I I I I are there any opposed I uh the eyes have it unanimously Adam General councel is the measure legally and technically instution for our consideration yes it is M secretary's the record complete sorry I'm dealing with another issue um yes it is Madam budget director does the measures fiscal impact statement comply with Council requirements uh yes it does does it have a fiscal impact that this bill does have a fiscal impact of 1.2 million in fy2 and uh 3.87 million over the financial plan mostly um FTE okay um this thank you uh this measure without objection this measure will be placed on the consent agenda for today's additional legislative meeting the next measure for markup is Bill 25825 removal of the highway plan and building restriction line from lot 9 in spur 5914 along the west side of Congress Street Southeast s so 22- 01642 act of 2024 this bill was introduced at the request of the Mayor Bill 25825 would remove an existing 15t building restriction line along the west side of Cong Street Southeast and amend the permanent system of highways of the District of Columbia to reduce the width of Congress Street Southeast by the same 15ot distance the removal of the building restriction line and the amendment to the highway plan will facilitate the development of a residential development with 180 units and ground floor commercial and retail space the uh report goes into more detail about um the um uh development possibilities or or proposal the uh commit assuming that this is adopted the committee finds that the portion of Congress Street as depicted on the surveillance plat is unnecessary for Highway purposes the removal of this street segment from the highway plan will facilitate the development of a residential property with 180 units and ground floor retail and commercial space Additionally the committee finds that the removal of the existing building restriction line along the west side of Congress Street is in the public interest accordingly the committee recommends approval of the committee print this bill was introduced uh at the request of the mayor on May 20th of this year and the committee the whole held a public hearing on this measure on July 11th 2024 committee received no testimony or comments in opposition to the bill uh I move the print with leave for staff to make Technical and conforming changes is there discussion all those in favor of the print say I I I are there any opposed the eyes have it unanimously I move the report with Le for staff to make technical conforming and editorial changes is there discussion by Voice vote all those in favor say I I I I I all right goo that was getting a little on theic um all those opposed say no uh the ODS have it unanimously Madam General councel is to measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is mam secretary is the 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 uh the next measure for markup is Bill 25- 576 protecting historic homes Amendment Act of 2024 this bill would amend two different laws first it adds a specified range of civil fines penalties or fees that can be assessed for violations of building code Provisions applicable to the preservation of historic homes uh second it amends the migratory local Wildlife protection act of 2022 to make the requirements of the law applicable to buildings constructed or altered pursuant to a building permit application submitted on or after January 1st 2025 this will give developers more certainty as to when the law applies to permits and it gives the department buildings additional time to implement necessary system changes for the migratory local Wildlife protection act of 2022 with regard to the um uh historic homes aspect of this the bill amends the historic landmark and historic district protection act of 1978 to provide that civil fines penalties or fees assessed on property subject to Historic preservation be variable by degree of severity but not more than $10,000 per violation in most cases the committee intents that in setting a fine with a variable severity the fine should be set considering the extent of any unapproved work done on the property and the potential for the property to be restored to its prev violation um experience I want to note that uh the office of planning believes that um the fines could be applicable each day that is each day would be a separate violation correct so while the uh cap would be $110,000 per violation um it could be in a matter of days more than that uh for and for instan is where there's willful unapproved work the committee print creates a new civil penalty also variable by degree of severity beginning at $10,000 with a cap of $25,000 per violation as introduced the maximum amount of this penalty in the bill as introduced was $100,000 and the standard triggering the penalty was quote substantial unquote alterations the office of planning recommended the lower maximum fine given the imposition of multiple large penalties could have given that imposition of multiple large penalties could have the unintended consequence of increasing opposition to the historic preservation program itself the committee agrees with op's recommended Middle Ground that's assuming that this is adopted uh uh op's recommended Middle Ground and notes that this would not preclude op from charging uncured violations as separate infractions which is sort of what I said about each day and that'll be clarified in the report um this bill was introduced by council member Allen on November 15 2023 a public hearing was held on March 27th 2024 with uh I'm going to move the print we lead for stack to make Technical and conforming changes is there discussion Mr chairman council member Allen thank you Mr chairman I do appreciate uh you and your team moving this forward today um and we had a fuller discussion this morning so I don't need to reiterate everything there I would note I'm not sure I would agree the the current level representing this committee print represents a a middle ground uh I think it's on the low end and I I know you said you'd be willing to work with with me between first and second reading to see if we can't adjust that a little bit um I think that while we I appreciate the comment that the office of planning could uh assess aine every day for things that are uh ongoing just not what we actually see them do in practice and again when we're talking about willful demolition uh substantial violations of historic homes those are folks that aren't taking they're not being a part of the historic preservation uh in the first place so I'm not sure how a fine is going to be impacting that differently um but anyway I appreciate your openness to work between first and second reading to see if we can find what that middle ground looks like and um I encourage my colleagues support today and look forward to working with you in the next couple of weeks uh thank you further discussion on the bill council member bonds um thank you thank you chairman and uh thanks to council member Allan but one of the things I hope you will consider as you look at um this um measure further is what would be the impact or maybe you already have results from a study that would inform us the impact of um heavy fines on these properties as it relates to are we going to are we creating the atmosphere for um um an increase in vacancies um throughout the city or the sell of properties to um invest investors uh because individuals cannot keep up with the vine I'm asking that question do you have data that would inform us on those two issues I'm sorry I was focusing on the next bill I'm presenting um what the data on what two issues on on whether or not the fines would um generate um a vacancy of properties Residential Properties and whether or not the fines would also cause individuals to sell their properties to investors and therefore we end up could end up with vacancies and um potentially new structures at some point um I don't have data on that some of that is speculative uh but I suspect that the uh greater impact will be to discourage uh to discourage violations um as Council Allen noted at the breakfast uh what has been seen frequently in some historic districts is that um a property owner balances the fine which right now is about $4,000 against the value of the home and the value of the improvements which could be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars the value the home being more than that and says well that's just a price of being of doing business and sometimes there have been controversies that have been um I want to say thoroughly extensive with regard to altering the structure um what do I mean by that essentially demolishing an existing contributing structure in a historic district and that just can't be replaced we're not talking about simple alterations like adding a kitchen in the back or building out a porch I'm talking about um knocking down walls and building something that's completely different and doing so in complete violation of the historic preservation law and inconsistent with the character of the historic district uh so increasing the fines and this was the testimony at the hearing increasing the fines will have more of a deterrent effect all right and and I hear you we're I I understand that this piece of legislation is designed to uh Preserve ve property and I'm thinking about the preservation of communities where people live so it's just apples and oranges that we're talking about um this afternoon but I just was curious as to whether or not any um data has been collected that would inform us on that issue but thank you thank you chairman yes um I think I want to see a little bit more I think it's unlikely that a property owner who has a expensive property in a historic district is going to walk away from the property when they are I know many when they are investing this kind of money uh so the issue here is that they get their permits and that they design in accordance with the historic district and um uh I just I don't think it's likely what what could happen would be um well and I also think that the and I'm going to be proposing legislation this fall with regard to vacant properties to strengthen the law but uh as an alternative uh it'll be arguably more expensive to have the property vacant uh not only because you're paying taxes but the tax rate will be higher so uh I I think vacancy is not a likely outcome yes I perhaps but my my concern is about this disruption to the community and that I've certainly seen in a couple of neighborhoods near where I live disruption where the community goes berserk because somebody's like demolishing a house that's been hisor no they go berserk because people cannot cannot keep up with the high cost of affording that house and so they one one little um uh vibration to their property they're ready to move and sell it at a Bonanza and move move to another neighborhood out of my neighborhood into yeah well first of all people shouldn't be moving out of your neighborhood because you're in a fine neighborhood council member bonds um but uh um at any rate the point of this legislation is to make it more expensive to violate the law yeah and I I really was wondering if you actually collected any information that would inform us on this so thank you very much and I look forward to what you are likely to do with um vacant properties and would love to work with you on that have a keen interest in it thank you council member council member Tran white yes chairman um I guess my observation has been in in my community and particularly anosia Community has been our historic district there are a lot of uh there probably one of the communities with the most vacant properties um I guess people are afraid because so many regulations around the historic district of actually buying and investing uh into those properties leading to people just staying away from it all together and I don't know what adverse impact this may have uh no we're trying to uh make sure we keep the same look or infrastructure of the historic district but I just don't I just don't know uh what adverse impactors may have because we have a lot of properties in the an anost historic district that's vacant because people just staying away from because it's becoming too expensive to buy those homes and fix them up with all the different regulations surrounding them so I just want to add that to the conversation as well sure but uh I I have some familiarity with those properties that you're talking about because a lot of them are owned by the city um and those would be properties that are currently vacant uh but with this bill addresses violating the permit requirements um and the issue again with vacant properties is that they're vacant not that there are permits for them so just want to emphasize this is about per violating permits I agree but I was just speaking to the fact of people buying and purchasing and fixing those up those because some of those are so old they need to be completely remodeled just to be livable but I got I understand what you're saying but I'm saying it's vacing for a reason people are looking for um further on the uh print uh the vote on the print all those in favor say I I I opposed the I have it unanimously on the uh report I move the report with lead for staff to make technical conforming and editorial changes a discussion the vote will be on the report all those in favor say I I I opposed uh the eyes have unanimously um General councel is to measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is um secretary is to record complete once the report is file mam budget director does the measure's fiscal impact statement comply with Council requirements yes it does is there a fiscal impact no without objection this measure will be placed on the consent agenda for today's additional legislative meeting the next measure for markup is Bill 25- 613 entitled K's way designation Act of 2024 this bill would symbolically designate the portion of the public alley system within Square 1071 which connects to East Capitol Street and a street Southeast as K's way the location is in w 7 a symbolic naming is for ceremonial purposes and is in addition to and subordinate to any name that is an official name and the name uh relates to the can family the can family moved to a Street Southeast in 1957 one of the first African-American families on the street like many African-American families who Moved onto the street at the time they rented their home from Mr ra AEL orilio who was a civil rights lawyer businessman and Champion for housing equality for African-American families in the district Mr orelio in his capacity as real estate broker regularly purchased homes that had racially restrictive covenants in the land records and then sold them to African-Americans despite the Covenant upon his retirement Mr orelio urged the Cain family to follow suit and purchased the home they rented which they did while living on a street members of the Cane family learned to play basketball football swing and climb in the alley on the other side of the street the alley proposed for the symbolic designation in this bill at the back of their home there was a men's social club which provided Sports and playground equipment to the families on From the Block so the children could have a place to play during their Summers the can family home is still frequently visited by friends families and those who wish to stop by and remember the neighborhood and the families who used to live on the Block the proposed designation is to honor the to is in honor of the family members past and present this bill was introduced by council member gray on December 1st 2023 the committee held a public hearing on July 12 2024 and the committee received no testimony or comments and opposition to the bill without objection I'll move both the print and Report with leave for staff to make technical conforming and editorial changes is there a discussion [Music] the vote will be on both the print and Report with Le for staff all those in favor say I I I I are there any opposed uh the OD have it unanimously Madam General council is the measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is Madam Secretary is the record complete the report is filed Adam budget director does the measures 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'm not going to move bill 25743 today the next bill for markup is Bill 25- 828 Alma Thomas way designation Act of 2024 um this bill would symbolically designate 15th Street between Church Street and two Street Northwest as Alma Thomas way the location is in W two it's a symbolic naming which is for ceremonial purposes and is in addition to in subordinate to any name that is an official name Alma Thomas was born in Columbus Georgia in 1891 she moved to the district with her family in 1906 after the Atlanta riot in sech SE of safety and an educ and educational opportunities that were denied to black people in Georgia the family lived in a town home near 15th and Church Streets less than a block from St Luke's Episcopal Church which the family attended Alma Thomas and her sisters attended Armstrong manual training school which is where friendship Public Charter School is now located Miss Thomas went on to attend Howard University where she obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in Fine Arts for sculpture in 1920 four Miss Thomas went on to teach at charge in your High um let me see which Char in your high school which was segregated under resourced overly crowded and forly maintained however she persisted in increasing her students cultural Horizons by taking them to museums throughout the district and challenging them to produce their own art in a variety of mediums uh I'm trying to skip through some of the reports she served as uh vice president of the Barnett Aiden Gallery uh and served on the board for many years she continued to immerse herself in art education taking night classes over a decade at American University M thas retired from teaching in 19160 and became a full-time painter she worked out of her home studio on 15th Street until an arthritis flup uh her work was featured in exhibits and Galleries and universities across the district at age 81 she became the first African-American woman to put on a solo Exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American art and was featured at the corkin Gallery of Art in a Solo exhibit that was attended by former mayor Walter Washington who proclaimed September 8th 1972 as Alma Thomas Day her Works have been shown in top museums around the United States she passed away in 1978 after which her home on 15th street was placed on the National register of historic places designating this portion of 15th Street where Alma Thomas lived and produced art throughout her life as Alma Thomas way will serve to uplift her Legacy in the community this bill was introduced by council member Henderson council members Henderson and Pinto on May 24th of this year of the whole held a public hearing on July 12th of this year and the committee's received no testimony or comments and opposition to the bill no objection I'll move both the print and Report with lead for staff to make technical conforming and editorial changes is there discussion Mr chairman coun member Henderson um thank you Mr chairman thank you for moving this measure uh I'm a huge fan of Alma Thomas and I sincerely believe that anyone who encounters her art and life story cannot help be admirer um she's legendary uh born in Columbus Georgia which is actually where I went to high school um she was raised and educated in the district um she's the first person to graduate from Howard University's fine arts program and she was a public school art teacher at the former Shaw junior high school for nearly three decades all while as a practicing artist perfecting her craft she obtained additional higher education degrees in finding arts and showed her work in community Galleries and in retirement developed her painting style moving more towards pointalism but creating her own unique style of dabbing many vibrant covers colors of paint and GE geometric patterns that represent nature emotions and scenes for which she has become well known and highly admired so I always love it she had a second act in retirement um her work has been shown at the corkran Museum the Whitney Museum and other museums in Boston Baltimore and New York uh Miss Thomas spent her girlhood and most of her adult life um at a row house at 1530 15th Street North West in Logan Circle um when I learned that the block where she lived for most of her life did not have a street designation and um I felt like we had to introduce this bill Miss Thomas uplifted her um every Community she belonged to um with whether were her students her fellow artists her neighbors and the street designation will certainly uplift her Legacy as an artist and innovator and an active and caring resident here in the District of Columbia so thank you so much for U moving this bill Mr chairman thank you council member further discussion we have both the print and Report before us with leaf for staff all those in favor say I I I opposed I don't hear any no votes the eyes have it unanimously mam General council is the measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is M secretary's director complete once the report is filed Madam budget director budget Council deputy director Council does the measure fiscal impact statement comply with Council requirements yes it does there's no fiscal impact correct there is no fiscal impact and I forgot to ask that I think with the last bill no fiscal impact you don't have to ask it for any of the street namings on today's agenda because none of them have a fiscal impact correct okay uh thank you very much without objection this measure will be placed on the consent agenda for today's additional legislative meeting uh the the next measure for markup in the committee whole is Bill 25829 Zelda Fitch Handler way designation Act of 2024 uh this bill would symbolically designate 6 Street Southwest between M Street and the northern boundary of square 472 lot 129 as Zelda fit Handler way the location is in Ward six and this segment of six street is um essentially the portion that is adjacent to the Arena Stage Theater this is symbolic naming for ceremonial purposes and is in addition to and subordinate to any name that is an official name Zelda Diamond was born in Boston in 1924 moved to the district at age four her father was a government scientist who developed a proximity fuse ordinance during World War II and her mother was a housewife who immig immigrated from Lithuania Lithuania wouldn't that be immigrated she attended with Jo Wilson High School as a child that's now Jackson Reed and she attended drama school she went on to attend Cornell University and after graduation she came back to the district and married Thomas Fitch Handler in 1950 the fit Chandlers along with Edward Magnum who was a professor of theater at the George Washington University co-founded The Arena Stage Theater one of the first not for-profit theaters in insired by Margot Jones the founder of theater 47 in Dallas which was the first professional theater company outside of New York Arena Stage was the first racially integrated theater in the district and first regional theater in the country to transfer a production to Broadway and the first to receive the Tony award for regional theater in 1961 Arena Stage moved to a custom theater in the round space a custom theater in around space where it still calls home in 1973 the arena uh became the first regional theater to be chosen by the US Department of State to perform in the Soviet Union Miss fit Chandler implemented policies and programs promoting diversity in all aspects of theater from the audience to production itself when she stepped down from Arena Stage in 1990 she had produced more than 400 shows and directed more than 50 during her tenure designating signage um on Sixth Street on this segment of Sixth Street will serve as a reminder of Zelda fit impact on the local and National Theater scene and will serve as an important commemoration of what would have been her 100th birthday on September 18th 2024 uh this legislation was introduced by Council Allen on May 28th of this year and the committee of the whole held a public hearing on July 12th of this year and the Comm received no testimony or comments and opposition to this legislation without objection I move both the print and Report with Lee for staff to make techical informing and editorial changes is there discussion Mr chairman council member Allen very briefly I think you noted I believe it would be Zelda's 100th birthday tomorrow so very glad that we're able to take this action today um and just appreciate you moving this piece of legislation forward um I'm not going to repeat all the uh items you've already shared about Zelda fish Handler and the remarkable contributions she and Arena Stage have given to the district uh I think committee report does a great job of sharing that background I just want to quickly give my thanks to Allison Irvin over at Arena Stage who came uh to us with this idea as well ASC 6D for their advocacy for this naming uh so I appreciate the work of our Southwest neighbors and leaders in this effort and thank you Mr chairman uh thank you council member further discussion the vote will be on both the print and Report with lead for staff all those in favor say I I I opposed I don't hear any opposed the eyes have it unanimous Madam general counsel is the measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is M secretary's record complete once the report is filed Madam budget director budget councel does the measures fiscal impact statement comply with Council requirements I forgot you already said it does yes it does uh without objection this measure will be placed on the consent agenda for today's additional legislative meeting uh I am not going to move um today Bill 25- 830 or 25- 841 and if there's no objection I'm going to move the six resolutions in Block PR 25- 481 citizen review panel of Shana Bartley reappointment and designation redesignation resolution of 2024 PR 25- 483 citizen review panel Elizabeth Mohler reappointment resolution of 20204 PR 25- 729 citizen review panel Whitney Miller appointment resolution of 2024 PR 25- 738 citizen review panel Andrew Miller re appointment resolution of 2024 PR 25739 citizen review panel Dr Tyra Moore appointment resolution of 2024 and R 25- 745 citizen review panel Carolyn Woods appointment resolution of 2024 in 2004 the council approved the council the excuse me in 2004 the council approved the child in need of protection Amendment act the purpose of this 2004 Act was to reform the district's Child Protection Law more importantly the goal of the council was to create a seamless and effective system for responding to any type of child mistreatment whether child abandonment abuse or neglect an outcome of the 2004 Act was to codify the establishment of the citizen review panel the panel serves as an independent oversight body for the district's child welfare system to evaluate the district government agencies involved in child protection as well as Services provided by vendors the panel consists of 15 members all of whom must be District residents the mayor is required to appoint eight members to the panel and must designate the chairperson the council shall appoint seven members to the panel panel and is required to designate the vice chairperson further the panel is required to be broadly representative of the community and must include members who have experience excuse me who have expertise in the prevention and treatment of child abuse and neglect in addition the appointees to the panel should have a diversity of professional backgrounds and must be familiar with the child welfare system the purpose of PR 25481 is to reappoint Shannon Bartley as a member of the C review panel and to redesignate her that is to designate her again to um be the vice chair of the citizen review panel for a three-year term to end on April 11th 2027 Miss Bartley is award six resident currently she serves as the acting executive director of DC Action for Children this bill was introduced on October 17 2023 and for all of these resolutions a public Roundtable was held on July 11th 2024 and there was no testimony for any of these in opposition testimony or comments in opposition to the nominations the purpose of PR 25483 is to reappoint Elizabeth Corson Mohler as a member the citizen review panel for a three-year term to end on April 11 2027 Miss mhler is a ward 3 resident currently she serves as the Director of social social services at the Latin American Youth Center and this resolution was introduced on October 17th 2023 the purpose of pr25 d729 is to appoint Mr Whitney Miller as a member of the C review panel for a term to end on April 11th 2026 Mr Miller is award five resident he's a member of the society for human resource management has been certified as trainer with that organization he currently serves as the Human Resources Director at AIDS United where he overes and manages all human resource operations Mr Miller is responsible for managing Talent acquisition and conducting and analyze in analyzing Employee Engagement activities this resolution was introduced on April 30th of 2024 the purpose of PR 25- 730 8 is to appoint Mr Andrew Miller as a member of the citizen review panel for a term to end on April 11th 2025 Mr Miller's award 8 resident he currently serves as a out of school time program coordinator with the District of Columbia Public Schools where he provides oversight in monitoring to all out of school time programs in five DCPS elementary schools prior to that Mr Miller was the program director for best Kids Inc where he handled a case load of 4 mentors engaged in the district's foster care system this resolution was introduced on April 30th 2020 for the purpose of pr25 d739 is to point Dr Tyra Moore as a member of the citizen review panel for a term to end on April 11th 2025 Dr Moore is award six resident she's a licensed independent clinical social worker in the District of Columbia and a licensed certified social worker clinical in Maryland Dr Moore owns and operates her own practice more therapeutic and Consulting Services where she provides individual therapy to adults with a focus on trauma PTSD grief and loss anxiety depression and cultural trauma this resolution was introduced on April 30th 2024 and finally of the six pr25 7:45 would appoint Miss Woods as a member of the citizen review panel for a term to end on April 11th 2026 Miss Woods is award to resident from 2014 to 2022 Miss Woods was a traditional licensed foster parent with the district's Child and Family Services Agency in that role she cared for children who were placed in her home prior to that Miss Woods served as a worker adviser with the Texas Health and Human Services Commission in Fort Texas and this resolution also was introduced on April 30th 2024 I want to note that these are appointments not confirmations appointments by the council without objection I will move the prints and reports for all six of these with leave for staff to make technical conforming and editorial changes is there discussion the votee will be on the prints and reports with lead for staff all those in favor say I I I I are there any opposed I don't hear any no votes the eyes have it unanimously mam General councel are these measures legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes they are Madam Secretary is the record complete for each once the reports are filed Madam budget councel does the measures fiscal impact statements do the measures fiscal impact statements comply with Council requirements yes they do and uh these are appointments and so there's no fiscal impact correct no objection without objection these measures will be placed on the consent agenda for today's additional legislative meeting the next measure for markup in the committee the whole is pr25 d888 Board of director c s of the Washington Metropol and Transit Authority spring worth reappointment resolution of 2024 the purpose of this resolution is to reappoint miss spring worth as an alternate member of the Washington metropolitan area transit authority board of directors to complete a term to end June 30th 2028 Miss worth has award for a resident currently she she serves as director of Transit policy and planning for the office of the deputy mayor for operations and infrastructure prior to that Miss worth served as the wada budget and policy manager for Doo Miss worth is a graduate of the district's Capital City fellows program and currently serves as chair of the Metropolitan Washington Council of government's public transportation committee the wada board is comprised of eight principal directors those are the voting members and eight alternate directors and Miss worth would continue at as an alternate director from the District of Colombia um for all the reasons stated in the committee report as well as whatever I've just said the committee assuming this is adopted uh recommends Council adoption of pr25 d888 this resolution was introduced on July 1st 2024 and the committee of the whole held a public Roundtable on July 11th 2024 uh before and during and after that Round Table the committee received zero testimony or comments in opposition to this nomination without objection I will move both the print both the print and Report with leave for staff to make tactical conforming and editorial changes is there a [Music] discussion Mr chairman council member B um maybe I missed this but did you indicate the ward that Miss worth lives in yes she lives in W four W thank you if there's no further discussion the vote will be on both the print and report for pr25 d888 all those in favor say I I I I I are there any opposed I don't hear any no votes the eyes have it unanimously and the resolution is approved the Madam General council is to measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is M secretary the record complete once the report and hearing record are filed Madame budget director does the measures fiscal impact statement comply with Council requirements yes it does and again this is a council appointment um without objection this measure will be placed on the consent agenda for today's additional legislative meeting we will turn now to measures from other committees and we will begin with the committee on business and economic development shared by council member Kenya McDuffy Bill 25229 costree coverage for prostate cancer screening Amendment Act of 2024 Council M McDuffy thank you chairman Bill 25- 229 was introduced by council member Charles Allen and a number of other colleagues on March 20th 2023 the bill was referred to the committee on business and economic development on April 4th 2023 and the committee held a public hearing on the measure on September 28th of 2023 at the hearing many witnesses testified about the high incidents of prostate cancer in the district particularly among black men this bill would provide costree coverage of one prostate specific antigen test and digital rectal exam per year pursuance to evidence-based guidelin CES it would also prohibit any health insurer from imposing a deductible co- insurance co-payment or other cost sharing requirement for prostate cancer screening many other states impose similar requirements for covering screening exams and it's time for the district to do so as well the committee worked with Council Moran's office and with the Department of Health to clarify which guidelines was controlled settling on screening guidelines of the national Comprehensive Cancer network with that I move uh the bill and ask to be placed on the consent agenda for today's legislative meeting thank you council member other questions from Members Madam general counsel is to measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is mam secretary is your record complete yes it is madam budget director does the measures fiscal impact statement comply with Council requirements yes it does does it have a fiscal impact funds are sufficient thank you without objection this measure will be placed on the sense agenda for today's additional legislative meeting Bill 25240 United Negro College Fund real property tax abatement extension Amendment Act of 2024 council member McDuffy thank you chairman bill 25-24 was introduced by council member Brian do on April 3rd 2023 refer to the committee on business and economic development on April 4th 202 3 the committee held a public hearing on the bill on January 24th of this year Bill 25-24 provides an abatement of real property taxes on property owned by the United Negro College Fund a prior 10-year tax abatement expired in 2022 at the hearing numerous Witnesses testified about the scholarships educational support and Community engagement work that uncf funds and provides to help disadvantage students attend college I want to acknowledge and thank my colleagues including council member noo and chairman mson who helped fund the abatement during the budget process earlier this year with that I mov the bill and asked that it be placed on the non-consent agenda for today's legislative meeting thank you councilor McDuffy are there questions from Members Madam General council is to measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is Adam secretary's record complete yes it is Adam budget director does the measures fiscal impact statement comply with Council requirements yes it does does it have a fiscal impact funds are sufficient because we funded the revenue lost from the abatement in the fy2 um budget financial plan thank you uh this measure will be without objection this measure will be placed on the non-consent agenda for today's additional legislative meeting the next measure for uh consideration is Bill 25277 landscaped architect Services sales tax clarification Amendment Act of 2024 Mr McDuffy thank you chairman Bill 25-27 s was introduced by council member Charles Allen with council members Matt fuman and Robert White on April 27th 2023 the bill was referred to the committee on business and economic development on May 2nd 2023 and the committee held a public hearing on on the measure on January 24th of this year this bill exempts from sales tax landscape architecture Services performed by a landscape architect license in the District of Columbia or provided by a design firm that employs a landscape architect license in the District of Columbia this change is in line with how the district and other jurisdictions exempt other Professional Services from sales Taxation and clarifies what was likely intended when the district created a license for landscape architecture back in 20 2016 the committee print includes the subject to appropriation provision which will need to be addressed in a future budget before this tax change becomes effective with that I move the bill and ask that it be placed on the consent agenda for today's legislative meeting thank you council member are there questions from Members Madam General council is the measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is Madam Secretary is director complete yes it is Adam budget director does the measures fiscal impact statement comply with Council requirements yes it does and is there a fiscal impact there is it is uh 1.9 million uh in 25 and 7.7 million over the plan and that would be a reduction in tax revenue thank you without objection this measure will be placed on the consent agenda for today's additional legislative meeting the next several measures which is more than three are reported out of the committee on Health chaired by council member Christina Henderson the first is Bill 25- 565 certified nurse aid Amendment Act of 20124 council member Henderson thank you Mr chairman um I introduced the certified nurse aid Amendment Act of 2024 along with my colleagues council members Allan fuman Lewis George Nido Parker Pento trayon white on November 6 2023 the original name for this bill was the direct care worker Amendment Act of 2023 the purpose of the bill is to address the district's current direct care worker shortage um you might be asking what is a direct care worker these are home health aid certified nurse assistants nursing assisted Personnel um who help um seniors and persons with disabilities with various tasks um and getting around um between 2020 and 2024 certified home health aids decreased by 133% um and certified nurse assistance uh decreased by 28% this is based on recent Workforce data um from the Department of Health Advocates describe this shortage to low pay and high administrative burdens there are approximately 36,000 residents in the district who need direct care and with an aging population continuing to grow the number will only increase so it's critical that we address this issue now the bill which was unanimously approved by the committee on Health on July 11th addresses the Direct Care Workforce crisis in in the District of Columbia in significant ways first the bill eliminates barriers to L insure by combining the certified nurse aid and the home health aid license into a unified license currently these two type of providers are while it's essentially the same function in different settings um combining the licenses will streamline the process and no longer require professionals to maintain two different lure types next the bill creates an expedited temporary license for CNAs for Maryland and Virginia in good standard which excuse me which would allow for them to work in the District of Columbia within 5 days this will increase our potential Workforce while ensuring patient safety um the bill establishes an advisory committee to um to propose recommendations to the board of nursing to help develop credentials and standards uh of education for the new CNA license and finally the bill increases the wage wages for this profession to on average 120% of the living wage up from 1176 % of the living wage this is the only provision in the bill that is subject to Appropriations it will cost approximately 8.7 million in local funds in FY 26 and 26.7 million over the course of the financial plan I look forward to getting this bill passed continue to support vital Healthcare and the workforce um excuse me support this vital Healthcare Workforce here in the district thank you Mr chairman thank you council member Henderson are questions from members council member Lewis charge yeah thank you chairman I just want to thank council member Henderson for her leadership and support of home health aids um and certified nursing AIDS um as chair of the committee that oversees the department on disability services um I've heard from many home health aids about being overworked due to lack of adequate Staffing um and their difficulty providing for their families on such low salaries um I also heard from many people with disabilities who tell me about how much they enjoy and appreciate their home health aids um and and how lives of themselves and their families have changed due to the care home health aids provide them um Council M Henderson do you think by taking this step to support home health aids and CNAs CNAs we are recognizing the invaluable Services they provide to some of the most vulnerable residents in the district absolutely thank you uh thank you for that Q&A further questions from Members mam General council is to measure lead technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is M secretary is the record complete yes it is M budget director does the measures fiscal impact statement comply with Council requirements yes it does and I heard council member Henderson State the cost yeah the do you want me to yes okay sorry uh yeah there is a local component and a federal component to this because of uh the Medicaid reimbursement um costs so the District's portion is 8.7 million in 26 and 26.7 million over the plan um and the federal portion is um 62 million over the plan for a total of 89 million but again the district's um uh portion of that is um 26.7 so the cost of the bill is substantially higher than what the district will be pay correct because the which is to say that we would be increasing I shouldn't put it this way but we would be increasing the compensation for these workers um largely on the US government's 70% of it would be paid for by the federal government without objection this measure will be placed on the consent agenda for today's additional legislative meeting without objection the next two measures will be considered in Block PR 25- 807 Board of Social Work Wanda wheeler confirmation resolution 2024 and PR 25- 808 Board of Social Work salaria Moore confirmation resolution of 2024 council member Henderson thank you Mr chairman pr25 d807 nominates Wanda wheeler for reappointment as an independent clinical social worker licensed um in the district for a term to end March 3rd 2027 Miss wheeler is a licensed independent clinical social worker with extensive experience running private Psychotherapy practice in Washington DC for nearly 15 years she also masters of social work from New York University additionally Miss wheeler has worked at the National Institutes of Health in a variety of capacities managing programs and budgets and improving consumer stat excuse me consumer customer satisfaction Miss wheeler lives in Ward 4 PR 25- 808 nominates salaria Moore for reappointment as a consumer member of the Board of Social Work for a term to end March 3rd 2026 Miss Moore is an ad professor at Trinity Washington University and is a retired DC public schools Early Childhood educator and Community Advocate with over 40 years of professional um and personal service she holds a masters in child development from Texas Southern University and she is also a W for Resident I move both of these nominations Mr chairman thank you council member other questions from Members Madam General council is the measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration uh yes they are thank you madam secretary's record complete for each yes Madam budget director did the measures fiscal impact statements comply with Council requirements yes they do there's no fiscal impact as or nominations correct no objection to these measures will be placed on the consent agenda for today's additional legislative meeting the next measure is pr25 d826 Board of Pharmacy rodri McGill confirmation resolution of 2024 council member Henderson thank you Mr chairman PR 25826 nominates rodri McGill for appointment as a consumer member to the Board of Pharmacy with a term for ending uh March 12 2027 currently Mr Miguel serves as the assistant general counsel with the Department of Defense Legal Services Agency defense Human Resources activity additionally he serves as a mediator with the District of Columbia Superior Court multi-do dispute resolution where he develops implements uh conflict resolution strategies and drafts legally binding agreements for landlords and tenants Mr mcel earned his jur doctorate degree from the University of the District of Columbia and he is a W8 resident I move this nomination thank you council member are questions Madam General council is a measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is madam secretary's record complete yes it is madam budget director does measures fiscal impact statement comply with councel requirements yes it does without objection this measure will be placed on the consent agenda for today's additional legislative meeting the next measure is pr25 d831 Board of dietetics and nutrition Emily Arin confirmation resolution of 2024 council member Henderson thank you Mr chairman pr25 d831 nominates em Emily urkin for appointment as a dietician licens in the district for term in March 12th 2025 Miss Arin is a register dietician nutritionist based in the district and her group practice specializes in eating disorders and Medical Nutrition Therapy for gastro intestinal disorders and other illnesses across life stages Arin earned her master's of Science degree in nutrition and Public Health at Columbia University and she is award for a resident I move this nomination thank you council member are there questions from Members mam General council is to measure legally technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is Madam Secretary is the record complete yes it is madam budget director does the measure 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 25837 Board of Medicine Andrea Anderson confirmation resolution of 2024 council member Henderson thank you Mr chairman pr25 d837 nominates Dr Andrea Anderson for reappointment to the board of medicine for a term to end August 3rd 2026 Dr Anderson is a family physician and has served as the assistant medical director of the ARA cardoo Health Center for 16 years where she coordinates policy and curricular for over 80 Family Physicians nurse practitioners and physician assistants she also serves as a medical director to reach out and read of Metro DC a nonprofit organization working directly with pediatric providers to promote early literacy among children Dr Anderson earned her doctor of medicine degree from Brown University and she is a w five resident thank you thank you council member other questions from Members Madam general counsel is to measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is madam secretary's record complete yes it is madam budget director do 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 if there's no objection the next two measures will be considered together pr25 d840 board of dentistry Dr Eric Bradshaw confirmation resolution of 2024 NPR 25- 841 board of dentistry Dr Janelle animal confirmation resolution of 2024 council member Henderson thank you Mr chairman pr25 d840 nominates Dr Eric Bradshaw to the board of dentistry for an appointment as a dentist licens licensed in the District of Columbia with a term to end November 30th 2026 Dr Bradshaw is a general dentist with Advanced Training and Implant Dentistry cosmetic dentistry and Invisalign Dr Bradshaw operates his private dental practice Mint Dental in the district he earned his do doctorate in dental surgery from Howard University and he is a W for Resident pr25 d841 nominates Dr Janelle um anichi to the board of dentistry for an appointment as a dentist licensed in the district with a term to end November 30th 2027 Dr Anam malichi is the board certified pediatric dentist and the CEO of Children's Choice pediatric dentistry and orthodontist she earned her Doctorate of dental surgery from the University of North Carolina she is a w five resident um Mr chairman as this is the end of my um piece here on all of these nominations I want to thank all of these um health professionals who are volunteering of their time um we have uh yeah we still have 19 boards in in commissions of on the health side of things um and these are as I've read these um individuals resumes they're full-time working um practicing in their various professions and then they give up their time um to review applications and make licensing decisions on behalf of um their particular professions and so we thank them greatly um this is also my opportunity to give a PSA for anyone who is a health professional licens in the district who is interested in serving um please go to the mayor's office of talent and appointment website as there are some vacancies that need to be filled thank you Mr chairman thank you council member other questions from members Madam general counsel are these two measures legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes they are Madam secretary's record complete for each yes madame budget director do the measures fiscal impact statements comply with Council requirements yes they do without objection these measures will be placed on the consent agenda for today's additional legislative meeting uh the rest of the measures on this um committee the whole agenda come out of the have come out of the committee on transportation and the environment shared by council member Allen the first is Bill 25738 Transportation improvements Amendment act 2024 counc M Allen I could just move them all in Block if you want me to you could try but i r out of order thank you Mr chairman Bill 25- 738 the transportation improvements Amendment Act of 2024 was introduced on March 1st 2024 by you with the request of the mayor it was referred to the committee on March 5th 2024 and the committee held a public hearing on the bill on June 6th 2024 committee unanimously approved the bill at an additional meeting on July 12th 2024 the bill modifies the district Department of transportation's establishment act in several ways first the bill repeals language in the DC code delegating certain DT functions to a specific subdivision within the agency this will in turn allow DT's director to assign certain statutory responsibilities to whichever internal Administration is best suited to perform that determined function the bill also grants D the ability to managed Transportation Improvement plans on lands transferred from the federal government for recreational use under its current legal Authority dot is limited to accepting federal land Parcels that have been designated for a transportation purpose finally the print declares the district has an adequate interest in the Reconstruction or maintenance of roads and bridges on National Park Services Parkland to fulfill requirements of title 23 of the US code or other applicable federal laws by codifying The District's legal interest in this Parkland the print will allow several capital projects involving roads and bridges on Federal Land including the 11th Street Bridge Park to receive the permits they need to be able to move forward together the provisions in this bill will Empower do dot to more competently perform the statutory duties that the council has delegated to the agency and will allow the construction of new Innovative capital projects involving federal land with that Mr chairman I ask the measure to be placed on the consent agenda for the additional legislative meeting to follow thank you are there questions from Members mam General coun 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 measure measure's fiscal impact statement comply with Council requirements yes it does is there a cost of funds are sufficient without objection this measure will be placed on the consent agenda for today's additional legislative meeting Bill 25- 424 DC water critical infrastructure Freedom of Information clarification Amendment Act of 2024 council member Allen thank you Mr chairman Bill 25424 the DC water critical infrastructure Freedom of Information clarification Amendment Act of 2024 was introduced by me on July 11th 2023 the bill was referred to the committee on September 19th 2023 and the committee held a public hearing on the bill on March 4th 2024 the committee unanimously approved the bill at an additional meeting on July 12th 2024 the bill amends the district's Freedom of Information Act of 1976 or Foya to exempt from disclosure critical information information critical infrastructure information or plans for the the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority also known as DC water the district's Foya already grants companies regulated by the Public Service Commission including Washington Gas and Pepco an exemption that Shields them from disclosing any of their critical infrastructure information or plans that contain critical infrastructure information in response to a foer request the rationale behind this exemption is since these utilities provide DC residents with essential services like electricity natural gas drinking water they must be able to withhold the disclosure of information that could be used to attack threaten or otherwise disrupt the infrastructure needed to provide those Services however since DC water is not regulated by the Public Service Commission it does not qualify for this exemption despite the fact it is also utility that provides essential Services drinking water to District residents in the form of Safe Drinking Water and Wastewater Treatment this bill closes this Gap by Foya and by adding DC water the list of entities shielded from the public disclosure of critical infrastructure information these changes have been in effect on an emergency and temporary basis and the bill before us today would make these changes permanent with that Mr chairman I ask these measures be placed on the consent agenda for the additional legislative meeting to follow thank you council member alen other questions from Members Madam General council is to measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is Madam Secretary is the record complete yes it is Madame budget director does the measure's fiscal impact statement comply with Council requirements yes it does is there a fiscal impact no fiscal impact without objection this measure will be placed on the consent agenda for today's additional legislative meeting there's no objection next three measures will be considered together or in Block pr25 - 766 District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority board of directors Howard Gibbs confirmation resolution of 2024 PR 25- 767 District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority board of directors Richard Jackson confirmation resolution of 2024 and PR 25768 District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority board of directors Anthony Gan Cola confirmation resolution of 2024 council member Allen thank you Mr chairman for quick background DC wat is governed by a board of directors consisting of 11 principal members and 11 alternate members six board members must be District residents appointed by the mayor with the advice and consent to the Council of those six one must be the director of the district Department of environment or a cabinet level officer but no more than four maybe District employees or officials PR 25766 PR 25767 and PR 25768 were introduced by chairman mlon at the request to the mayor on May 3rd 2024 and were referred to this committee on May 7th 2024 the commit Comm held a round table on the measures on June 27th 2024 and then unanimously approved an additional meeting of the committee on July 12th PR 25- 766 and PR 25768 would reappoint Howard Gibbs and Anthony gianca to the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority board as District resident members for terms to end September 12th 2028 Mr Gibbs is award six resident with over 40 years of academic and practical engineering experience as well as Government service on multiple Professional Licensing boards Mr gianca is a W four resident who served in the US Navy for 20 years and has worked in a variety of engineering roles for local governments in both Maryland and the district as well as for w PR 25767 would reappoint Richard Jackson to the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority board as a cabinet level officer member for a term to end September 12th 2028 Mr Jackson is award seven resident and the director of the Department of energy and environment who has worked in government for over two decades and is a veteran of the nuclear submarine Force operating reactors all three nominees have already served on the board and the reports filed with the secretary provide a much more detailed summary of their background and experience with that Mr chairman I ask these measures be placed on the consent agenda for the additional legislative meeting to follow thank you council member alen are there questions from Members mam general counsel are these three measures legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes they are mam secretary is the record complete for each yes Madam budget director do the measures fiscal impa statements comply with Council requirements yes they do no objection these measures will be placed on the consent agenda for today's additional legislative meeting there's no objection the next three measures will be considered together in Block PR 25823 green Finance Authority board Deborah Lumis confirmation resolution of 2024 pr25 d824 green Finance Authority board Ricardo nura confirmation resolution of 2024 p 25825 green Finance Authority board Todd manes confirmation resolution of 2024 council member Allen thank you Mr chairman the DC Green Finance Authority or green bank is governed by the green Finance Authority board composed of 11 members four non- voting members and seven voting members the non- voting members are government officials including the director of the Department of energy and environment the deputy mayor for planning Economic Development the executive director of The Office of Public private Partnerships and the Chief Financial Officer or their designes the voting members are appointed by the mayor but must include two members with experience at a financial institution operating within the district three members with financial project development or legal expertise in clean energy clean infrastructure clean Transportation storm water management or green infrastructure and two members with experience in affordable housing or Community Development the seven voting members are subject to council approval PR 25823 PR 25824 and PR 25825 were introduced by the chairman at the request of the mayor on May 22nd 2024 and refer to this committee on June 11th 2024 the committee held a round table on the measures on June 27th PR 25-23 would reappoint Deborah Lumis to the green Finance Authority board as a voting member with financial project management or legal expertise in clean energy clean infrastructure clean Transportation storm water management or green infrastructure for a term to end July 9th 2027 Miss Lumis is a w 7 resident who has previously served as a sustainability Ambassador for the Department of energy and environment and as a senior adviser for climate change to the US Navy and Marine Corp pr25 d824 and pr25 d825 would reappoint Ricardo noera and Todd Monash respectively to the green Finance Authority board as voting members with experience at a financial institution operating within the district for terms to end July 9th 2027 Mr noera is a w one resident who has extensive local and international experience in climate finance and Mr monach is a w three resident with substantial experience in Commercial Banking all three nominees have already served on the board and the reports provide a more detailed summary of their background and experience with that Mr chairman I ask these measures be placed on the consent agenda for the additional legislative meeting to follow thank you Council Mor are there questions from Members Madam general counsel is the me are these measures leging technically sufficient for our consideration yes they are mam secretary is the record complete for each yes mam budget director do the measures fiscal impact statements comply with Council requirements yes they do without objection these measures will be placed on the consent agenda for today's additional legislative meeting I hate to say it because we're having good time but that's going to end the business for the committee the whole um we will adjourn and then start up the legislative meeting how soon will we be ready all right we will um we will begin the legislative meeting and I'm not moving and I don't think anybody has any business for me so we'll start the legislative meeting at 3:06 time is 3:1 p.m. and this meeting is adjourned weigh in what like who you talking about some of the health committee appointments or child I what what is this okay I don't know father's I don't know yes I mean should bother that the beds are weighing in very heavily on that mother the short answer is yes it's a little messy back there yeah the doors oh to sign yeah now what from the chain I don't see him being anything but weird I agree can you come here first e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e call to order this meeting this is an additional meeting of the Council of the District of Columbia I'm Phil mandon chairman of the council today is Tuesday September 17 2024 the time is 3:14 in the afternoon we are meeting in room 500 the council chambers of the Johnny Wilson building most of us are in person at least one council member is participating online this meeting is being broadcast on Council Channel cable television 13 as well as on the council's website www.dc.gov this is an additional meeting not a regularly scheduled meeting our next regularly scheduled meeting will be October 1st we always begin our it's also the 29th legislative meeting of council period 25 I was once told I had to make that observation the beginning of meetings uh we always begin our legislative meetings with a um moment of silence and then I'll ask the the secretary to call the role if we could have a moment of silence please mam secretary would you please call the role council member Allen here council member Bond council member bonds council member Freeman Pres counc member gray council member gray council member Henderson council member Lis George here council member McDuffy here chairman melson presid council member noo here council member Parker here council member Pentel present council member Robert White present council member Tran white present Mr chairman you have cor uh thank you Madam Secretary uh we have on the agenda the secretary's report of committee filings but we dispense with that at the committee of the whole and we have on the agenda the secretary's report of introductions and referrals and we dispense with that as well at the committee of the whole if there's no objection I am going to move out of order an emergency bill that's on page nine of the agenda uh that would be um under the category reading and vote of emergency legislation at the request of the mayor uh the fiscal year 2025 local budget emergency Act of 20124 and the accompanying declaration resolution hearing no objection those measures are before us uh I'm going to move the Declaration that's PR 25- 961 or I move the Declaration PR 25- 961 uh the purpose of the Declaration is to place in order the emergency Bill the emergency bill which is fiscal year 2025 local budget emergency Act of 2024 is identical to the budget act what we call the local budget act that was adopted by the council in June uh we um submitted that budget as quickly as could be to Congress for the required 30-day review Congress which is in the midst of an election year has not been meeting and so the 30 days is projected to expire somewhere around uh December 6th that's what two months after the start of the fiscal year we need this budget in place before the start of the fiscal year that is before October before October 1st I do want to note our previous versions of this legislation were returned by the mayor unsigned which is certainly her prerogative however our general Council has Ed and I believe the attorney general has opined that the full 10 days count the full 10 days count even if the bill is returned unsigned so it will be necessary for this legislation which if approved uh will be transmitted today to the mayor it will be necessary that she signs this legislation before October 1 because otherwise it will not be deemed approved until October 2nd uh so I've already moved the Declaration uh if the if members have questions please ask otherwise uh I will move to a vote is there discussion Council madoo yes chairman I am in support of this declaration um I did have one topic I wanted to raise that I think could be considered Germain um the tax revision Commission they were supposed to have delivered something to us by now they met in July to reconsider draft recommendations well they were supposed to meet in July and they unexpectedly canceled the meeting and all of a sudden there is a severe lack of transparency there on what it is they're doing there's essentially complete inaction and this is something we should have had for the fy2 budget now it's not even clear if we'll have it for FY 26 and whatever is produced is going to be tarnished by significant process concerns I bring it up here because this is the first time we are convened um since we recessed and we are considering something related to the budget today do you have any idea what our next steps are with the tax revision commission is is it something where we should be calling them to the council to to come answer for themselves um I'm not sure if it's gerain to this uh legislation but uh the discussion is in order um I have talked to several members of the commission who are concerned that the commission will not have a report or recommendations as I um no not as I I then discussed this with the chair of the commission Tony Williams and he assured me that there would be recommendations they he as he put it they may not include one of the recommendations that was in a pre previous iteration as you know there have been some drafts um uh the former mayor who's the chair of the commission said that uh he was he was quite clear that the um he would that that the commission would adopt a report uh my message to him was to say even if the commission doesn't adopt a report or recommendations could they still give us a report because there's been a lot of Staff work but he Al but said that's unnecessary because um they will adopt some recommendations did he have a sense of when like before September 30th this month yes thank you I can only report on my conversations did you want to say anything okay that's the best answer I can give you is the conversations I've had uh I would like to see given all the staff work I would like to see at a minimum of report even if it doesn't have recommendations but as I said as I delivered that message to Mr Williams he was quite clear that he thought there would be something adopted by the commission thank you we'll see further discussion on the Declaration we have the Declaration before us that's PR 25- 961 all those in favor say I I I opposed uh the OD have it unanimous ly uh I'm going to move the underlying Bill Bill 25- 949 so moved and now I'm going to move an amendment nature of a substitute which was circulated yesterday so uh just so that everybody's clear what the mayor submitted so so the home rule act says that a budget can only be considered if it's submitted by the mayor or rather that in order for the council to act on a budget on any appropriation has to be submitted by the mayor there has to be a bill submitted by the mayor that's what I'm trying to say so the mayor submitted a bill last week uh I believe it actually was filed on Monday what was filed was the bill has introduced the budget as introduced for fiscal year 2025 on April 4th well that's very different than the bill that we adopted very different than the budget that we adopted so this amendment nature of a substitute is NE necessary in order for uh us to adopt what we adopted in June that's sort of stating the obvious the ANS is what is what puts before us what we previously adopted so I move the amendment nature of a substitute is there discussion on the amendment nature of a substitute this is not the final vote on the bill on the amendment nature for substitute all those in favor say I I I I opposed uh the OD have it unanimously so now we have the bill as amended before us Is there further discussion and again this reflects what we um mirrors what we is identical to what we adopted in June hearing no further discussion on the bill as amended all those in favor say I I I that is like so an let's try again all those in favor say I I are there any opposed hearing no NOS the eyes have it unanimously and the bill is approved uh we will go now to the consent agenda are there changes to the consent agenda and before anybody speaks um um on page two the first four items are removed from the consent agenda that would be Ronald Ron Austin adjustment of building restriction line closing of a public alley and closing of a public alley in addition on page two item C3 is removed from consent that was requested in the committee of the whole on page three item nine is removed from consent it was not moved in the committee of theole and items 12 and 13 are removed they were not considered in the committee of the whole so that would be Bill 25743 Bill 25830 and Bill 25841 are removed from the consent agenda and will not be considered today on page five item E2 our citizen review panel Elizabeth Muller reappointment resolution is removed from consent and on page six item F1 bill 25868 this is final reading and vote on temporary legislation it's the family rehousing stabilization program protection temporary Amendment act that's removed from consent are there any other changes to the consent agenda Mr chairman can you just repeat again for the um particular Street naming I just want make repeat what uh a street renaming I just want to make sure that you had that on your list okay thank you Canen you um excuse me council member McDuffy shook his head in the affirmative so I'm good yes on page three items 9 12 and 13 are removed hearing no other changes to the consent agenda you want me to go over them again I heard one person say no that doesn't speak for everybody second all right we have the consent agenda as amended before us all those in favor of the consent agenda say I I I are there any opposed the eyes have it unanimously there's no objection on page two items 1 two 3 4 um I'm going to move to postpone to the October 1 legislative meeting that's Bill 25-1 196 ronal Ron Austin Memorial Park designation Bill 25-61 adjustment of building restriction line in square 2950 Bill 25- 614 closing of a public alley in square 5051 and Bill 25- 636 closing of a public alley in square 3701 I move the postpone those measures to the October 1 legislative meeting there's no objection there'll be the my motion will be approved hearing no objection uh they're postponed chairman would you um entertain or can you entertain a question at this time well they're postponed but I'll take a question yes um on item um three could you give me the location of this square off hand I can't okay and also for four same question yeah I don't have the reports in front of me okay but we I'll pull it from the legislation okay thank you yes all right the next measure is uh Bill 25- 581 this is item three at the bottom of page two medical cannabis clarification and program enforcement Amendment Act of 2024 so moved discussion Mr chairman who asked me recognized council member Parker along with council members Pento and bonds I would like to move an amendment uh to B25 d0581 um the amendment seeks to ensure that the changes to the medical cannabis rules sufficiently protect the district's small children who are particularly susceptible uh to unintentional consumption of cannabis products and who can suffer real Health consequences as a result uh the am the amendment advances the goal in two ways first the amendment add specificity to the types of medical cannabis product packaging that would be banned because of the likelihood that they would be mistaken for food uh that children frequently consume the amendment also ensures that when a medical cannabis cultivation Center retailer inter internet retailer seeks a license to operate within 400 feet of a daycare daycare center that Center is provided standing before the ABC Board um we had a bit of discussion this morning but I would just reiterate uh that the focus here is about protecting the district's small children these are common sense enhancements uh for the first in terms of the prohibition on certain packaging 14 other states also uh have those restrictions around packaging and there was a question earlier about whether or not current law already uh makes the adjustments that we're trying to make in this uh amendment I would point out that while current law prohibits the use of cartoons or similar images packaging that is appealing to children and use of the words candy or candies other jurisdictions or those 14 other states go further including the Banning of depictions of toys animals or children as well as products that resemble commercially available food that appeals to children like Oreos like we discussed earlier and that is again what this amendment seeks to do thank you as part of the 15 minutes 50 seconds left Council M Pinto as a co- introducer I don't know what that time limit is but I'll take less than that um thank you very much Mr chairman and thank you council member McDuffy uh for you and your teams and all of your very hard work on this important bill I introduced co-introduced this amendment today with council member Parker and council member bonds because I think that additional changes are still needed to make sure that we properly balance the interests of supporting our medical cannabis industry and protecting children and Adolescence from potential exposure to cannabis which we know can have long lasting harmful impacts on young developing brains this amendment would make two common sense changes to our existing cannabis laws first it would ensure that when a cannabis retailer applies for a licensed to operate a retail facility within 400 feet of a daycare center that the daycare center has the opportunity to participate in the protest process a process that we have carried out uh for a long time in our city and and do so regularly for other establishments the ability to participate in the protest process is important not to necessarily prevent a facility from opening but to ensure that the concerns of the community can be taken into account often resulting in a settlement agreement that can be negotiated with the ly to address those concerns second this amendment would strengthen protections around packaging to ensure that it is not inappropriately attractive to Children this amendment prohibits cannabis product packages from resembling commercially available food that appeals to Children including Stacks gummy bears lollipops gummies popcorn chocolate bars B goods and beverages this is in direct response to problematic cannabis product packaging that has become all too common where cannabis products closely resemble a bag of candy or chips that you would buy in a grocery store as council member Parker accurately points out 14 other states have already made these Common Sense changes around packaging prohibitions um including Colorado and Washington which have been national leaders in cannabis regulation once taken home these cannabis product packages could easily be confused for their food counterparts by an unknowing child or teenager additionally this amendment would ban cannabis packaging from including images of toys animals or children which may unduly attract adolescence I want to underscore that I fully support and have worked for years with colleagues to help build a thriving medical cannabis industry in the district which has suffered greatly uh due to the proliferation of many illegal cannabis and gifting shops the goal is not and should not be viewed as being at odds with our simultaneous goal of ensuring that adolescence and are not appropr inappropriately exposed to cannabis products we know that medical cannabis has immense medical benefits for adults and we want to create those avenues for people but cannabis use among adolescents whose brains are still developing is linked to long- Lasting negative impacts um I want to lift up part of the discussion we had sir chairman at this time has expired okay I was just turning to you uh to ask you um about part of our discussion at the breakfast this morning about your and council member mcduffy's potential willingness to work with Council M Parker bonds and I on these changes um given their sense nature as I stated several times at the breakfast I was more than would be more than happy to work with the um with the movers of this amendment between now and second reading uh but I would ask that it be withdrawn today with that chairman I'm willing to pull the amendment and look forward to working with you and council member McDuff thank you uh is there anything further with regard to this bill then we will vote proceed to vote Yes there is no underlying bill because there's no Amendment I'm confused so first of all I recognized your council member Pinto for 50 seconds because that was left uh with Mr Parker's time because ordinarily the way things go is somebody moves the amendment and then I turn to the sponsor of the legislation which would be either me or Mr MC Duffy since it came out of both of our committees I believe you spoke for 3 minutes so essentially you would be asking for second round now all right two minutes for council member Pinto thank you Mr chairman I just want to share that I strongly support our medical cannabis industry and believe that it is important to be accessible and safe for adults who need it or want it and I'm really grateful again to you and councilor McDuffy for all of your work on this bill I think you've made a series of changes that will make this program stronger including ensuring that ABA consider proximity to daycares when determining the appropriateness of the initial license expanding the prohibition around schools from 300 feet to 400 feet prohibiting cannabis safe use treatment facilities from opening summer Gardens within 400 feet of a daycare giving ABA additional tools to shut down unlicensed establishments and many others as I mentioned previously I believe that additional changes are needed between now and second reading to get that balance right between supporting a legal medical cannabis market and to support our families and our neighborhoods I look forward to working with you all on all of those improvements um and lastly just want to reiterate how many problems are still associated with the illegal Cannabis shops many of the signs um many of the complaints that I hear about and that I see are around signage for instance and putting up images of products on the street that is all illegal activity that should be enforced um I was very distressed to see recent reporting that ABCO only has one inspector and that is close down one cannabis shop that needs to increase to support the medical market and to support our entire city as these shops are illegal thank you very much uh thank you uh we have the bill before us all those in favor of the bill bill 25- 581 I please say I opposed the eyes have it unanimously uh the next measure for consideration is on page five it's item two citizen review panel Elizabeth mhler re appointment resolution 2024 PR 25483 I remove this from consent because I checked with my staff following the markup at the committee of the whole and I need to move an oral amendment that would change the expiration of the term to April 11th 2026 that's that's the sum total of my amendment is to change the term expiration so that it reads April 11th 2026 uh if there's no objection that Amendment will be accepted and then we have the resolution as amended before us slow me down if I'm moving too fast um the vote will be on PR 25483 as amended all those in favor say I I I I I opposed the eyes have it unanimously the next measure is on page six Bill 25- 868 the family rehousing stabilization program protection temporary Amendment Act of 2024 council member Robert White uh thank you chairman this is the second reading of the temporary measure we passed unanimously just before recess the legis maintains our existing law on rapid rehousing which requires that if funding is available in the rapid rehousing program DHS would not exit families from their housing without due process the council has passed versions of this legislation several times but the mayor stripped funding from the program and blocked Council efforts at reform in the budget so the money isn't there right now for implementation more importantly we must focus on what is happening to families in our city the mayor proposed cutting all housing assistance for over 2,000 families in Rapid rehousing even though they cannot afford to pay rent in this city these families now face imminent eviction and displacement through Council funding and federal voucher designations at the DC Housing Authority we collaborated to identify permanent housing for the majority of those families we did this because we recognized the dire impact of displacement on families especially children and because we recogn the burden on taxpayers who end up paying more to assist people who are displaced than to keep them housed despite our efforts the Administration has decided to cut off housing assistance for families while they wait for permanent housing that we have already funded now the Administration has publicly blamed the council for this outcome my team the chairman and the budget office worked Around the Clock during the budget season to find money to protect these families from eviction and displacement part of our work involved rebuilding dca's budget in consultation with them based on spending projections they provided and confirmed we added money where they expected to spend more and money and money they didn't think they were going to spend we reinvested in vouchers now months after the budget process ended and after the council navigated several other hurdles that the administration put up the administration claims that the budget information we received from dcha was inaccurate alleging that the council failed to do its due diligence I want to be clear the council relies on agencies to tell us how much they plan to spend and when we develop a budget based on that data we have several votes on it neither the mayor nor the CFO raised concerns at any of those opportunities or for three months after the fact what is happening here is clear the administration is engaging in finger pointing at the council myself and my team the people who were working to find solutions to this crisis the mayor still has the power to change course I appreciate the chairman and several colleagues for insisting that we extend families in the rapid rehousing program since we funded permanent housing vouchers that become available in two weeks if agency spending projections have changed host budget we should not let families in a failing program suffer the consequences we must not leave taxpayers to Bear the burden 30 seconds Mr chairman without objection we must not leave taxpayers to bear the burden nor should we waste time blaming others we need to find Solutions that's what we're here to do with that said I move the family rehousing stabilization program protection temporary Amendment Act of 2024 and I'd urge my colleagues to continue supporting this measure thank you chairman uh thank you council member I would like to add to your statement that yesterday I pulled up all the letters that we receiv received from the mayor while we were considering the budget these were letters sent in May and June and some of the letters were rather lengthy objecting to numerous Provisions in the budget nothing was said not a single word was said with regard to the Rapid rehousing or the um uh vouchers that we were funding so further discussion on this measure we have the bill before us Bill 25- 868 all those in favor say I I I opposed thees have it unanimously I believe that gets us to the non-consent agenda and the first measure is Bill 25240 United Negro College Fund real property tax abatement extension Amendment Act of 2024 council member McDuffy some moved is there discussion chairman council member council member thank you I said council member n yes thank you very much council member McDuffy um and chairman for assisting in getting this measure fully funded in fy2 uncf's headquarters is an anchor on Seventh Street for progression place the abatement was in place for many years and this legislation simply reinstates it there have been this project itself was meant to Anchor the entire area with uncf as one of the anchor tenants and when it originally opened there was supposed to be another tenant that significantly contributed to supporting the corridor but pulled out at the last minute and as such the existence of this tax abatement is very much tied to the existence of the entire progression place place development which includes housing and also includes ownership spaces for small businesses including Wanda on 7th which has been there for many many years and had they not been provided this opportunity would have been pushed out of the neighborhood a long time ago the project isn't perfect small businesses there still struggle and we need to do more for them but providing this financial support to uncf ensures that one of our country's most important organizations in ensuring higher education for African-American students can Thrive right there in Shaw so thank you all um I look forward to moving forward with this abatement thank you council member further discussion regarding this Mr chairman Mr chairman it wasn't fast enough council member Parker and then council member Bon yes um and this I I'll direct it to council member McDuffy as the chair of the committee that has oversight here is it your understanding based on what council member nadoo just shared as well as your committee's work that without this abatement it may jeopardize the great work of the United Negro College Fund yes yes um and I share that because I know there is a higher threshold for today's vote and I'm truly hoping that committees will stand up for this very important organization so as Council M do said it can continue its great work in our sha Community thank you council member Bond thank you very much um chairman um I just wanted to ask um council member McDuffy what is the value of this abatement value meaning how much is this going to cost us on an annual basis let me check the record give me one second I'll answer that question okay all right sure impact stand there's a fist associated with it but I just don't have it handy so let me let me get it and you can get it to me later that's fine I just want to make sure that we we know we're spending our money for good things uh coun bonds as you know it was funded in the budget when we adopted the budget uh we funded this okay continuing this abatement my recollection was in hundreds of thousands of dollars a year I I understand all of that and um I'll look I'll look through this that we submitted the 48 pages and I'll find it will it be specific to this abatement or will it be covered in abatements so I I have it it's uh 515,000 for fy2 2.1 million over the financial plan obviously not insignificant given the tough Financial Times District's facing however given the history of uh the organization's work with students particularly black students and really facilitating the ability of thousands to go to college uh I think it is well worth the investment by the District of limited to continue to support this organization thank you very much and I have no question that it is a good investment um I just wanted the public to understand that this is how we are spending our money because when we think about it we have uh numerous uh business grants that are bringing new businesses hopefully into the community and preserving existing businesses and this is a business our Enterprise that we also want to keep so thank you very much for that and thank you and just I think it's well worth noting that this is a continuing abatement that actually ended in 2022 which uh really should have not have ended and we've had discussions with the organization about really staying on top of uh the abatement U but to your point about business they also supported and I think council member nadoo already noted this a number of businesses along that historic uh Georgia Avenue 7 Street Corridor and Shaw so uh extraordinarily important work that they're doing uh and we want to continue to support uh the uncf in that location in particular I'm going to jump in here and make a point because several members have talked about how worthwhile uncf is and to be sure it is but in my view that's not the reason for an abatement because there are a lot of organizations that we think are wonderful or we could think are wonderful and we could be saying peace mealing that we'll do abatements for this one and that one and so forth there are reasons for this first of all as just noted this was an abatement that was previously approved and it it was time limited and so it expired and so we're renewing it that's a distinguishing Factor but in addition as counil nadoo pointed out there is a history to how this project got developed and this abatement was an important part of the development of the project uh and I just want to emphasize so this is not even though it's about uncf it's not about uncf it's about this property and the history behind this property and how it got developed I thank you you but I'm not really just targeting you I'm actually thinking of several members who said wonderful things about the organization but that's not the basis uh for which we give tax payments and I appreciate that chairman but for me it's important to also understand that this is a business that was anchoring this building in this very important Community yes so let's put that on the record as well yes thank you so much yes there's nothing further we've man to spend a lot of time debating this uh the vote will be on Bill 25- 240 all those in favor say I I I I opposed I don't hear any no votes the eyes are unanimous the next measure is PR 25- 954 Council period 25 rules of organization and procedure and appointment of committee chairpersons and membership Amendment resolution of 2024 uh what this uh resolution does is it amends our rules that we initially adopted at our organizational meeting in January of 2023 it would eliminate the uh this resolution will eliminate the committee on Recreation libraries and youth Affairs transfer the jurisdiction of the subject matter and agencies to the committee of the whole this resolution will establish a subcommittee the subcommittee on Recreation and Community Affairs it will also establish a subcommittee on libraries and youth Affairs both of which will be under the committee of the whole this resolution will amend Council period 25 appointment and chairperson protim blah blah long title short title whatever to appoint the chairpersons and members of the subcommittee on Recreation and Community Affairs and the subcommittee on libraries and youth Affairs and this resolution also will authorize outside Council to assist in the investigation of council member TR why the why am I not finding never remember the chairperson of the subcommittee on libraries and youth Affairs will be Zachary Parker and its members shall be Anita bonds and Robert White the chairperson of the subcommittee on Recreation and Community Affairs will be Matt fuman and its members will be Kenyan McDuffy and Brienne noo so that's the resolution and I so move it this is our discussion yeah and I have I'm hearing noise uh the vote will be on PR 25- 954 all those in favor say I I I are there any no votes chairman please mark me as present counil member Tran white will be marked as present uh hearing no no votes the resolution is approved unanimously can you make Mark me as present as well what's that can you mark me as presid as well the um resolution is approved unanimously with council members Tran white and Kenya McDuffy marked as present give me just a second uh we'll turn now to um reading and vote on emergency legislation uh the first measure is fiscal year 20125 income tax secured Revenue Bond General obligation Bond and general obligation and income tax secured Bond anticipation note issuance authorization we have the Declaration resolution which is PR 25- 937 Council McDuffy thank you chairman uh as we take up every year about this time this emergency legislation will ensure that the District of Colombia can issue Bonds in a timely man to provide funding for the district for capital projects approved and undertaken Pur to the district's fiscal year 2025 budget and financial plan uh so I move the Declaration for approval uh thank you counc McDuffy the Declaration is before us is there discussion uh by Voice vote all those in favor of the resolution PR 25- 937 say I I I opposed uh I hear no no votes the Declaration is approved unanimously we have the underlying measure which is the actual approval resolution PR 25- 938 coun McDuffy so move discussion all those in favor say I I I I'm not leaving until we get a better vote all those in favor say I I opposed yeah guys have it unanimously the next measure is PR 25- 962 local rent supplement program contract number 2024 lrsp 05a with Congress lihtc owner LLC emergency declaration resolution of 2024 council member Robert White thank you chairman the DC Housing Authority sent us this legislation so that they can commit local vouchers to a future all affordable apartment building in Noma as you know dcha works with the Department of Housing and Community Development to award various kinds of subsidies to affordable housing projects through a coordinated solicitation lately we've been getting housing subsidy contracts that Trace back to a solicitation process that agency started in 2021 in this case MacArthur development worked with Community connections to prepare an apartment building for 1109 Congress Street North Northeast in W 6 they want to build 69 Apartments all of which will be permanent Supportive Housing with services for people making less than 30% of the area median income among other subsidies dcha will contribute about $2.1 million per year to cover rent the project is also slated to receive housing production trust fund dollars though the contract will probably come to us for Passive approval our affirmative approval is required for today's Housing Voucher contract because it's structured as a multi-year agreement and those trigger special Council approval rules under federal law based on the details dcha has provided us I recommend approving this contract resolution thank you chairman thank you council member is there discussion the vote will be on the Declaration PR 25- 962 all those in favor say I I I I opposed I don't hear any no votes guys have it unanimously Bill 25- 950 the underlying Bill council member Robert White so moved discussion all those in favor say I I I I opposed are the eyes have it unanimously next measure is PR 25- 955 retired firefighter and police officer redeployment extension emergency the Declaration resolution of 2024 council member Henderson thank you Mr chairman uh the council passed the retire fir fire and police officer redeployment emergency Amendment Act of 2023 on December 5th 2023 to allow retired firefighters and police officers to be employed at the office of unified Communications without being subject to an annuity offset uh the temporary measure is set to expire on October 12th 2024 and to maintain Ain this exception that allows for a highly qualified group of individuals to serve in critical positions at OU I ask that my colleagues vote to extend um this legislation before the permanent measure um which will be marked up later this month by the committee on liary was excuse me not libraries the committee on labor and executive Administration goes into effect um there have already been retired firefighters who have been hired under the emergency and so it's important for us um to maintain cont here for their employment so move Mr chairman thank you council member the Declaration is before us is there discussion on the Declaration oh council member Pinto thank you Mr chairman I Just Want to Thank You Council Henderson for moving this bill I continue my enthusiastic support for it and as we continue to think creatively about filling vacancies at our important Public Safety agencies including OU um fem and MPD and others I think um retirement is a really creative and effective way to go and so appreciate you moving this bill uh and look forward to exploring with colleagues in the coming weeks and months additional tools to increase attractiveness for for hiring and for retention thank you Mr chairman thank you council member further discussion vote will be on PR 25- 955 the Declaration all those in favor say I I I I are there any opposed yes have it unanimously the underlying Bill Bill 25- 938 council member Henderson so move Mr chair discussion all those in favor say I I I opposed don't hear any no votes the a have it unanimously the next measure is PR 25- 951 director of The District Department of Transportation Sharon kers bomb confirmation emergency declaration resolution of 2024 House member Allen thank you very much Mr chairman um and if I might just proactively ask for an additional minute of time um pr25 d723 was introduced by chair mlon at the request of the on April 10th was referred to the committee on April 19th 2024 and the committee held a public Round Table in the measure on June 20th 24 uh 2024 the resolution would confirm acting director kers bom's appointment as the permanent director for the district Department of Transportation if confirmed director kers bom would serve at the pleasure of the mayor committee voted four to zero to approve her nomination yesterday because the nomination would be deemed approved on on September 22nd I think it's important that the council affirmatively consider her nomination for some beef brief background on the nominee acting director kers Bond began her career at Solomon Brothers in 1992 as a training specialist after receiving her Masters in Business Administration in 1998 from the Horton school she worked at Fanny May until 2000 as a senior business analyst acting director kers bomb had her first role in government with the city of Philadelphia as the deputy budget director and director of special projects from 2000 2004 where she helped manage the introduction of the nation's first ever Municipal car sharing program after returning to Fanny May for two and a half years acting director kers bomb accepted her first position in District government as the cap staff program manager within the city administrator's office she next served as the deputy chief procurement officer within the district's office of Contracting and procurement before working at the US Department of Treasury in 2015 she returned to the district government as Chief Operating Officer of the Department of Human Services and in October 2021 she joined D do as deputy director of position shield for two years before being selected as its interim and now acting director I think that four themes emerg from director kers bombs professional background materials and during our conversation and discussion at the June Roundtable that I want to highlight first throughout her career acting director kers bomb has displayed a deep commitment to Public Service serving at both the local and federal level second director kers bomb is a massed valuable experience in financial management and planning which I think is an asset to her when managing dot an agency with an operating budget of nearly $200 million and a capital budget of nearly 1 billion third the nominee has a strong background in personnel management and Human Resources since the job of the director is largely to manage the staff effectively during the round table we talked about the particular challenges d. staff face and some some of the efforts the acting director has taken already taken to promote employee wellness and retention and fight burnout finally I found the nominee to be responsive candid and generally willing to collaborate to improve the functioning of government and the lives of District residents under acting Dr kers bomb's leadership there are several areas in which di is moving in the right direction the Investments and work on bus priority lanes are crucial to speeding Transit across our city and reducing Clogg streets the upgrade to every single street light across the district provides more efficient and responsive Lighting on our streets our sidewalks and our alleys the a agcy is willing to innovate with technology to test new ideas and adapt everything from automated sidewalk inspections to using public space differently to support more green space or retail space now to be clear I've also had my share of disagreements strong disagreements with the nominee during her tenure most recently I'm incredibly disappointed that dot did not proactively work with wada to plan around the windown of the circulator we knew this was coming the council provided a Year's worth of funding in 2023 and on top of that the council passed legislation requiring monthly reports to encourage the two agencies to start working together but DT or perhaps more directly the executive branch did not plan for the circulator ending now writers who relied on the circulator service to get around the district and circulator workers who rely on their paychecks to support their families are left in the Lurch this will continue to be a focus of the committee with a Roundtable hearing including dot taking place likely on September 26th on another note during the most recent budget process I was frustrated to learn about the removal of protected bike Lanes from the proposed redesign of Connecticut Avenue Northwest despite millions of dollars of Investments we haven't made progress to reduce roadway fatalities through vision zero I'd like to see greater urgency around expansions of our sidewalks and bicycle Network which are often deprioritized in favor of more Car Center design choices I know that some folks here today or at home are wondering why the policy disagreements I just mentioned don't translate into a no vote today as I stated back during the round table on acting director kers bomb my test of whether or not to support a nominee has never been whether I agree with every decision they make if that were the case there's probably not a single Department director that I would ever support House member you've been four minutes may I have 30 more seconds Mr without objection thank you what I do absolutely need is a director who's responsive to oversight and feedback and my experience after every single one of those decisions that I just mentioned where I disagreed with the director I could still pick up the phone and have a productive conversation with acting director kers bom about how we move forward from here and in many of those cases I've been successful in getting do dot closer to what the council or residents been asking for I cannot overstate how rare and refreshing that kind of inter Branch working relationship is and second I was struck by the number of witnesses who testified a residents who spoke to me in support of the nominee even while criticizing certain decisions she made and in doing so based their support for her confirmation on her availability professionalism so I know I'm at time so in closing Mr chair I expect the nominee to be a stronger leader of this agency to make meaningful progress on Vision zero the state of our roadway safety in the district is unacceptable related to that goal the director must maintain and expand the district sidewalk inventory and prioritize maintenance and repairs and regardless of one's primary mode of transportation we all Walk and Roll at some point in our Journeys so sidewalk Walk activity needs to be a larger Focus similarly DT's got to make better evidence-based decisions regarding our bicycle Network for its part the committee will continue to push the agency in a direction consistent with its own transportation philosophy I do believe we have a partner and a capable administrator in director kers bomb and I'll be voting in favor her confirmation today and I ask my colleagues to join me in approving this resolution on emergency basis with that Mr chairman I move the deck thank you Council Mor we have the Declaration before is there disc question council member Pinto thank you very much Mr chairman and thank you council member Allan uh for your statement and for your work with DT and with director kers bom uh I want to thank the director and do dot for their work to care for our City's diverse network of Transportation infrastructure from our roads Bridges sidewalks and alleys to our Trails bike lanes and our trees as director kersch bomb assumes her role as permanent director for the agency I want to highlight a few key priorities that hope the agency will advance under her tenure the traffic safety input TSI process is a critical tool to ensure the agency is responsive to needs across the city and I really appreciate the recent improvements to this process and I urge do do to continue working to ensure TSI requests are resolved in a timely manner many requests relate to serious safety challenges that need to be addressed promptly and I'll draw your attention to tsis for our traffic circles especially around dupon and Logan circles and requests for safety improvements along 15 street from anc's 2 B and 2f and Massachusetts Avenue from a anc's 2 C and 2G I share uh council member Allen's concern about the circulator and the planning to ease that transition for many bus riders across the district are reliant on those routs I still remain cautiously hopeful that we'll be able to work something out with the absorption of some more wada routs to make up for those circulator losses um but more needs to be done and shared with the public as soon as possible sidewalk paloa is beginning in a few days and I also want to draw attention to the need to reduce our sidewalk repair times especially when issues prohibit accessibility relatedly I urge D do to continue its work to enhance safety infrastructure around our schools thank you again to dot for moving on the Ross Elementary safety improvements I hope to see a continued focus in prioritization of school safety improvements especially at Kips Shaw campus Hardy Middle School and Sean Elementary School I congratulate DT for another round of record ridership for Capital Bike Share and hope to see more stations in W two with bike ridership growing I urge do dot to stay focused on building a robust network of connected and protected bike Lanes throughout the city and I thank D for its efforts to engage the community on safety improvements and urge the agency to stay engaged even after official completion to allow for fine-tuning once these projects are complete um oftentimes we have additional input that needs adjustment ensuring the public has chance for this input is essential uh DTS Ward Specialists are also a wonderful model for other agencies to ensure that each Ward receives the responsiveness that it deserves from an agency thank you to Kristoff wasmer our wonderful Ward 2 specialist at do do and finally we continue as we consider the health and safety of our transportation Network we must also protect against impacts of excessively loud sounds on the health of our residents and I urge director kers bomb to establish a pilot sound camera program to address excessive vehicle noise on our roadways near residential areas I'll be supporting today's nomination and look forward to working with director hbomb and her team as we move forward on the many district priorities we have with DOT thank you thank you council member further on the Declaration council member leis George uh thank you chairman um yesterday I voted alongside with my colleagues of the committee on Transportation environment in favor of direct director Krish bomb's appointment in the committee markup um because of her responses uh uh both to uh the to to me as a council member but responsiveness uh to community when we've asked her to come to community her team or herself have shown up in those regards um and and and that presence has made a difference at the same time I noted that I was disappointed in DT's diminished what I call transparency over the past two years uh and acting director Kush bom uh to make several public uh and I asked acting director Kush bom to make several public commits commitments um I was very pleased to to report that within hours acting director Chris Brom sent a letter to the committee sort of answering the questions I and others posted to her at at our committee markup yesterday uh she said they will be reopening the TSI submission on October 1 uh she noted they will be holding a public meeting on September 19th to discuss the circulate circulated elimination and how we can work forward together on that uh she noted that that we would be that D do would be moving forward with the Grant Circle redesign project and bringing updated plans to the community this fall uh she shared the shared the fiscal year 25 plan to address alleys uh when it is uh complete um and uh reassigning school crossing guards in October based on available Staffing these were a number of the issues that we raised as sort of wanting to clear the transparency and again within our she was responsive and transparent about what direction D dot was going to take in those Notions additionally uh my team spent a lot of time on the safe roots of school act early uh in my tenure and director Kish bomb uh made a commitment to fully realizing safe root of school uh act and has done that work and her team and the safe Roots team has been committed to that work um and so for those reasons and you know based on her prompt responses but also her leadership thus far I will vote in favor of acting director kers bom's nomination today and I look forward to working with her her team and my community of ANC Comm Commissioners and parents alike to make sure our streets are are safe for everyone thank you thank you council member further on this declaration excellent we have the Declaration before us PR 25- 951 can we have seriousness on the days please um we have the Declaration before us PR 25-9 1 all those in favor say I I I opposed I don't hear any no votes see I have it unanimously the underlying resolution PR 25- 952 council member Allen so moved Mr chair discussion all those in favor say I I I I I opposed the eyes have it unanimously are the next measure before us is um PR 25- 939 contract number P GF 2024 C 00001 njh with Alan company LLC emergency declaration resolution of 2024 I'm moving this so moved this is a contract between a Lucan company LLC and the University of the District of Columbia in the amount of 3,181 429 for a period of 36 months from the date of award under the proposed contract Lucian will renew and provide software licensing application hosting and maintenance to support udc's Banner enterprise resource planning system that houses udc's financial management system including student records vendor and student payment information and class enrollment management there are no option periods this contract requires active Council approval as it exceeds one year it is being moved on an emergency basis because UDC needs the contract in place before the period of performance begins on October 1st 2024 as I said so moved is their discussion on the Declaration all those in favor say I I I I we'll try it this way are there any no votes you want some I don't hear any no votes here I have it unanimously we have the underlying resolution 25 p2- 940 so moved discussion all those in favor say I I I opposed the eyes have it unanimously adjustment of building restriction line in square 2950 along the southern side of Fern Street Northwest Sr 23- 06301 emergency declaration resolution of 2024 council member Lewis charge thanks uh chairman I request to move P 2250 947 B250 933 which are emergency measures to prevent a Time Gap in the law the temporary measure currently in effect expires on October 12th 2024 and the final reading of the permanent bill was just voted upon uh in our consent agenda that's it yes clicking we've previously adopted this and it was the committee to hold that's right all right discussion on the Declaration all those in favor say I I I opposed I don't hear any no votes the I have it unanimously on the underlying measure which is Bill 25- 933 council member Lewis George shall move discussion all those in favor say I I opposed yeah I just have it unanimously we have a temporary bill Bill 25- 939 retired firefighter and police officer redeployment extension temporary Amendment act 2024 Council M Henderson one second Mr chairman you could just say some oh yeah so moved I just wanted to make sure they didn't write something additional so moved well I'm going to ask if there's any objection to extending the period of time for your remarks we have the temporary before is there discussion Mr chairman that was not me but you know what I missed the window earlier just give it to me okay I um I'm very pleased to support this legislation I'm glad it's before us today and um was a CO co-introduced of the original the reason I wanted to speak today is because we all know that there are a number of serious issues at OU and we've been talking about them for over a year and I want to be clear here council is doing what we can to address the deficiencies at OU council member Henderson introduced the bill we're voting on today council member Pinto has introduced legislation which I've also co-introduced that would require public release of after action reports she's also going to be holding oversight hearings this fall including one jointly with my committee on the topics of emergency dispatch technology deficiencies and I introduced legislation last year that would separate fire and emergency medical calls from police calls to improve dispatch and services for residents which I hope also receives a hearing before the end of this Council period what I am not seeing is the same sense of urgency from the executive branch and they are in fact the ones responsible for running OU they're not leveling with the public not being transparent about the problems we're seeing tragedies of death and near tragedies dropped calls misdirected responses wrongly classified emergencies underst Staffing technology issues waiting minutes for a call taker to pick up routinely not just occasionally and po training for call takers residents are now scared that if they call 9111 answer we'll send them to the wrong address or we'll share the wrong info with fire MPD and despite all of that the executive has found excuses and refuses to share data and facts in fact I wrote a letter to OU in July asking for data about a slew of 911 mistakes in W one and I've been offered a briefing but have still received no acknowledgement of my request for data which is not the picture of an agency or Administration that's taking this seriously so today council member Henderson's legislation will help with the critical shortage of Staff every week multiple shifts are significantly under staffed in July only eight out of 66 shifts were properly staffed and that means seven out of every eight shifts were not staffed to function properly that leads to Long waits for 911 calls to be picked up it leads to mistakes especially as staff are asked to work more overtime due to the understaffing re retired firefighters know the city they know its streets they know its geography they know medical protocol and Fire EMS protocol and they know who is needed and how quickly so let's make it possible for those who still want to serve to do so without Financial penalty thank you I look forward to supporting this measure thank you Council noo is there anything further on the temporary vote will be on the temporary Bill 25- 939 all those in favor say I I I opposed I have it unanimously I believe that's going to complete the business for this meeting the next legislative meeting is scheduled for October 1st 2024 probably but not necessarily there will be a uh commit of the whole meeting as well in fact uh at probably at the October 1 legislative breakfast I'll discuss the meeting schedule through the fall which will be roughly twice a month so we can take care of legislation and not stay all day Council Rons I'm I'm I'm going to wind up this meeting there being no further business the time being 4:23 p.m. this meeting is adjourned e e e e e e e e