foreign we've got one online I'm going to order this meeting this is an additional meeting of the committee the whole of the Council of the District of Columbia I'm Phil Mendelson chairman of the council and chair of the committee of the hold it's an additional meeting because it's not a regularly scheduled meeting of the committee of the whole which meets on the third Tuesday of the month today is Tuesday July 11 2023 the time is 119 in the afternoon and this hearing is being our this meeting is being conducted in person in the council chambers room 500 of the Johnny Wilson building however at least one member is participating virtually we have a number of items I think it's seven items for markup in the community of the whole three measures that have been reported out of other committees that move through the committee of the whole before the legislative meeting when we are done with the committee the whole meeting we will take a brief break of maybe five minutes and then I'll begin the legislative meeting uh we begin our committee the whole meetings with um determination of a quorum Mr Cash would you call the roll chairman Mendelson president council member Allen councilman Allen councilmember bonds here councilmember Freeman here councilmember gray councilmember gray council member Henderson here councilmember Lewis George here councilmember McDuffie elsewhere McDuffie councilmember Nadeau here councilmember Parker here councilmember Pinto council member Pinto council member Robert White here councilmember Treyon Lake here Mr chairman you have a quorum here I heard councilmember Alan come in thank you um if there's no objection I'm going to move in Block for markup five nominations to the Commission on the arts and humanities these would be PR 25-262 Commission on the Arts and Humanity Cecily confirmation resolution of 2023 pr25-263 Commission on The Artsy Mandy's Chase Maggiano confirmation resolution of 2023 PR 25-264 Commission on the Arts and Humanities Carla Sims confirmation resolution of 2023 pr25-265 commissioned on the Arts and Humanities Julianne brienza confirmation resolution of 2023 on pr25-266 commission on the Arts Humanities Hector Torres confirmation resolution of 2023. uh the commission on arts and unitings was established by the Commission in on Arts and Humanities act in 1975 the commission currently consists of 14 members appointed by the mayor for three-year terms appointed with the advice and consent of the council the mission of the commission is to provide grants programs educational activities that encourage diverse artistic expressions and learning opportunities so that all District of Columbia residents and visitors can experience the district's Rich Arts and Humanities community members of the commission must be District residents who must have a display it must have displayed an interest or an ability in the Arts and Humanities or must be active in the furtherance of the Arts or humanities moreover the mayor has to give due consideration to recommendations made by the Arts and Humanities community and has to ensure that there is reasonable representation of all the words when considering appointments to the commission further no employee of the just government can serve as a member of the commission a PR 25-262 would confirm the mayor's nomination to Ms Cecily pepper Mana for appointment as a member of the commission for the remainder of an unexpired term to end June 30th 2025. is a ward 5 resident currently she serves as chief executive officer and owner of so creative Lounge prior to starting so creative she worked for simply Cecily as a fashion designer and McNeil creative Enterprises as a creative development advisor she has served as a member of several boards including the NSAA or ensa dance Ensemble Advisory Board the hunter Dance Theater Advisory board and the atlas Performing Arts Center board PR 25-263 would confirm the mayor's nomination of Mr Chase Maggiano for appointment as a member of the commission on the Arts and Humanities with experience in arts and humanities organizational Administration or governance for a three-year term to end June 30th 2025 Mr Maggiano's replacing queenie's Floyd on the commission Mr Maggiano's a ward 3 resident he serves as owner and luthier of Washington fine Bose I learned a word at the hearing luthier which is somebody who strings violin bows um he provides service and sales of fine bows of the violin family for professional musicians spanning the East Coast prior to starting wash and find bows he worked for Potter violins as the manager in charge of sales operations and marketing where he managed to day-to-day operations of the five million dollar fine instrument business Mr Maggiano also has served as executive director of two noted District of Columbia singing ensembles the gay men's chorus of Washington and the Washington course he is board chair of sound impact and Advisory Board member of the Coalition for African Americans in the Performing Arts PR 25-264 would confirm the mayor's nomination of Ms Carla Sims for reappointment as a member of the commission on the Arts Humanities for a three-year term to end June 30th 2026 Ms sims's award six resident she received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Hampton University currently she owns and operates fyimg Inc and entertainment and production company she also has served as a major in the U.S Army Reserves and worked in the Pentagon as the Special Assistant for external Affairs to the under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness uh she is a founding board member of the Howard Theater restoration and sat on the board of Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington D.C here at 25-265. would confirm the mayor's nomination of Miss Julianne brienza for appointment as a member of the commission on the Arts Humanities for a three-year term to end June 30th 2025. this Brienne says Awards six residents she receives her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in theater from the turbo University in 2005 she founded Capital Fringe a dc-based non-profit with a mission rooted in the freedom of expression and earning opportunities for artists and creatives since then she's been she's served as a driving force for division Community presence and growth of the organization's Financial footprint from two hundred thousand dollars up to 1.7 million dollars and increased opportunities and the establishment of key Partnerships and artist-driven programs PR 25 Dash 266 with confirmed the mayor's nomination of Mr Hector Taurus for reappointment as a member of the commission on the Arts and Humanities for a three-year term to end June 30th 2026. Mr Taurus says award six resident he received his Bachelor of Science degree in secondary art education from Saint John's University he is a principal at Absolute hospitality a self-employed Hospitality consultant and a freelance artist painter um he's had a long and successful 49-year career in the hospitality industry where he served as the vice president of Beacon Hotel and corporate quarters and at Capital hotels and suites and his retirement Mr Torres spends his time making people happy not only through the hospitality industry but through his original passion of Art each of these resolutions was introduced at the request of the mayor on June 7 2023. the uh this is after an earlier set of nominations the same nominees plus one other had been submitted by the mayor but with incorrect term dates which is why we were unable to move forward uh those finally were corrected withdrawn and um we have these resolutions before us the committee of the whole held a hearing on June 30th 2023 the committee received no testimony or comments in opposition to the nominees there's no objection besides moving these in Block I'll move the prints and reports together with lead for staff to make technical conforming and editorial changes is there discussion uh the vote will be on the five resolutions the committee prints as well as the reports with leave for staff to make technical conforming and editorial changes uh are we doing a roll call I think we are uh Mr Cash would you call the roll councilmember Freeman yes customer Improvement votes yes councilmember gray is absent no he's here I'm sorry councilmember gray here yes councilmember Henderson yes councilmember Henderson votes Yes councilmember Lewis George yes councilman Lewis George votes yes councilmember McDuffie yes elsewhere McDuffie votes yes chairman Mendelson yes chairman mendelsohn votes yes council member Nido yes councilmanovo TS council member Parker yes councilmember Parker votes yes council member Pinto yes councilmember Pinto votes yes council member Robert White yes councilmember Robert white boots yes council member Trey online yes councilman Trey on white votes yes councilmember Allen yes councilor Alan votes yes council member bonds yes councilor bonds votes yes Mr chairman there are 13 yeses I thank you the resolutions Princeton reports are approved unanimously Adam general counsel are these measures legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes they are um secretaries to record complete for each what once the reports and hearing records are filed Madam budget director do the measures physical impact statements comply with Council requirements yes they do without objection these measures will be placed on the consent agenda for today's legislative meeting the next measure for markup is Bill 25-145 entitled opening of streets and designation of opened streets in square s-5868 so22-01486 Act of 2023 bill 25-145 would order the opening of several streets and square s 5686 which is the Saint Elizabeth East Campus in Ward 8. the bill would designate these streets as Cypress Street Poplar Street Sycamore Drive and Oak Drive all Southeast uh the streets opened and designated by this bill were constructed for phase one of the Redevelopment of the Saint Elizabeth's East Campus phase one which began in 2016. the Speedster will be open and designated under this bill were unofficially named in the Saint Elizabeth's East master plan of 2012 and completed in 2018. despite this meaning so long ago legislation was not transmitted to the council until February of this year as a result residents who have been living in town homes and apartments in the area for over a year because the buildings are units opened up over a year ago those residents are not receiving adequate services from the district including our Emergency Medical Services response the committee has requested that the mayor specifically the deputy mayor for client Economic Development or that office transmit Street openings and designation legislation to the council as soon as is feasible to ensure that this does not happen again these streets actually have existed at St Elizabeth forever but as part of the Redevelopment they were built to DDOT standards they were completed as I said what five years ago the legislation came to us a year ago excuse me four months ago five months ago um and in this case residents have been disadvantaged I have asked the temp head to transmit the street designations for phase two we know what they are the new hospitals being built on one of them and dempad has said they'll get around to it when they get around to it which I hope I'm making clear for the record is really not acceptable nor good government uh construction for phase one of the Saint Elizabeth's East Campus began in 2016 infrastructure work including work on All Phase One streets was completed in 2018 in conjunction with the opening of the entertainment and Sports Arena and the residential and Commercial developments are either finished or near completion the subject station was introduced in February 22nd I'd like to say 2016 no 2018 no 2020 no and strike 2023. which was right before we began our work on the budget the committee of the whole held a public hearing on June 26 2023 the communities received no testimony or comments in opposition to the opening which is officially recording the streaks in the land records at the surveyor um or to the naming of the streets to designation uh without objection I'll move both the print and Report would leave for staff to make technical conforming and editorial changes is there discussion yes chairman council member Tran white um yes I want to thank uh you your staff and all those who contributed um had the opportunity to meet with the residents uh Sycamore Oak um and surrounding areas just trying to figure out how they can get relief uh and trying to uh get the fire department ambulatory services to come to the community and not get laws even Uber and Lyft and other uh vehicle transportation services so um and good faith we hope that DDOT is able to move on this and and um also unified Communications to ensure the residents when they call that people can respond and know where they're going so this is a effort on behalf of the council to get some traction on this and appreciate your efforts of chairman thank you and we have a version of this legislation as an emergency measure later in today's uh later today in the legislative meeting so the vote will be on the print and Report would leave for staff Mr Cash councilmember Gray here councilmember Gray yes councilmember gray votes yes councilmember Henderson yes councilmember Henderson votes Yes councilmember Lewis George yes councilman Bruce George votes yes councilmember McDuffie yes councilor McDuffie votes yes chairman Mendelson yes chairman Mendelson votes yes councilman yes councilman doe votes yes council member Parker yes councilmember Parker votes yes council member Pinto yes council member Pinto votes yes council member Robert White yes councilman Robert White votes yes council member Treyon white yes councilman Trey on white votes yes councilmember Allen yes councilmember Allen votes yes council member bonds yes councilmember bonds votes yes council member for Ruben yes councilmember Freeman votes yes Mr chairman there are 13 yeses the print reporter approved unanimously Madam general counsel is to measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is madam secretaries to record complete once the report is filed and budget director does the measures Cisco impact statement comply with Council requirements yes it does that objection the special will be placed on the consent agenda for today's legislative meeting uh the last item for markup in the community as a whole is Bill 25-189 entitled the commission on Arts and Humanities acting executive director Amendment Act of 2023 the purpose of this bill is to allow the commission on the Arts and Humanities to appoint an interim or acting executive director in the absence of a council confirmed executive director in in 2022 a vacancy arose in the position of executive director in the commission the commission appointed an internal senior leader to lead the agency in anticipation of the commission nominating a permanent executive director the commission had also identified a candidate for the executive director position and sought a change in the law to allow that nominee to serve in an acting executive director of capacity for up to 180 days in anticipation of council confirmation at that time emergency and temporary versions of this bill were enacted to allow the new executive director to begin serving as acting pending Council confirmation the purpose of this legislation bill 25-289 is to make permanent the authorities should the commission experience a vacancy in the future in the position of its executive director the legislation also clarifies that the term of the executive director is for a fixed term does the community the whole assuming that we approve this I recommends Council approval of Bill 25-289 these pills introduced on March 3rd 2023 in the committee as a whole held a hearing on March 30th 2023 and if they're you know in the test if the Committees received no testimony or comments in oppositions in this legislation uh if there's no objection we'll move both the print report uh together would lead for staff to make technical conforming and editorial changes is there discussion uh the vote will be on both the print report would lead for staff Mr Cash councilmember Henderson yes councilmember Henderson votes Yes councilmember Lewis George yes George votes yes yes councilmember McDuffie votes yes chairman Mendelson yes chairman Mendelson votes yes council member nudeau yes councilman doe votes yes council member Parker yes councilmember Parker votes yes council member Pinto yes councilmember Pinto votes yes council member Robert White yes councilman Robert White votes yes councilmember Treyon white yes council member Allen yes councilmember Allen votes yes council member bonds yes councilman Ron's votes yes councilmember Freeman yes councilmember Freeman votes yes councilmember Gray yes councilmember gray votes yes Mr chairman there are 13 yeses thank you Mr Cash the um both the print reporter approved unanimously Madam general counsel is to measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is madam secretary's director complete once the report is filed Madam budget director does the measures fiscal impact statement compare with Council requirements yes it does without objection this message will be placed on the consent agenda for today's legislative meeting we'll turn now to three measures that were reported out of other committees the first two from the committee on housing shared by uh council member Robert white bill 25-45 Banning associations from Banning youth Amendment actually 2023. councilmember White uh thank you Mr chairman the baby Banning associations from Banning youth Amendment Act of 2023 or baby bill for short helps resolve one barrier to child care across the district I want to start by thanking councilmember Nadeau for Drafting and introducing this legislation a 2018 study found that over 30 000 more DC kids could use daycare than there were spots at regulated daycare facilities this puts enormous pressure on working families and the council has consistently looked for ways to build the daycare Workforce and subsidize daycare businesses the Office of the State superintendent of education issues licenses for a few different types of child care businesses including Child Development homes these are settings where someone cares for a small number of kids inside their home Aussie makes applicants for these licenses demonstrate that they're safe and qualified in various ways the bill before us is about Child Development homes in condominium settings right now if you are a small in-home daycare provider your condo board can say you have to shut your business down there's nothing you can do about it even if you're fully compliant with Aussie's license requirements and fully compliant with all the condo boards other rules around things like noise the baby bill would put a stop to these kinds of condo board actions the committee on housing considered the fact that condo associations should generally be the ones making Collective decisions for the good of their residents we received very helpful testimony from the legislative action committee of the D.C chapter of the community associations Institute the condo lobbying organization and we made some clarifying and Technical updates to the bill based on their feedback but the shortage of daycare options in the district is so dire that the council needs to prevent interference with the operation of responsible child care before I close I should point out that the district's building codes still pose a major barrier to in-home child care options in multi-family housing buildings while this is outside of the committee's jurisdiction I hope the council and the executive will work together to address those issues through future legislation chairman I asked that bill 25-45 he placed on the consent agenda for today's legislative meeting thank you customer white are there questions from members I'm general counsel is to measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is I'm secretary is the record complete yes it is and a budget director does the measures physical impact statement comply with Council requirements yes it does our objection dispatch will be placed on the consent agenda for today's legislative meeting councilmember white I'm trying to remember you have an amendment on a bill and the one coming up okay uh thank you um the next bill is Bill 25-74 fairness and renting clarification Amendment Act of 2023 councilmember White uh thank you chairman housing costs in DC and Nationwide continue to rise due to ongoing income inequality black latinx and other communities of color spend a higher percentage of their income on the cost on the cost of living compared to White residents who routinely have more wealth as the Council Office on racial Equity as pointed out racial inequities and home ownership mean that households of color are more likely to rent and when they rent their rent is more likely to be unaffordable heightened costs and less income Force lower income residents to manage their money even more carefully so their dollars stretched to the end of each month leaving little wiggle room for extra payments in instances where a person is seeking rental housing this may result in pursuing fewer housing options because of the cumulative costs of application and other fees that housing providers charge to evaluate prospective tenants this may in turn mean not finding housing that will be the right fit for a person or their family in March of 20 822 the council passed the eviction record ceiling Authority In fairness and renting Amendment Act of 2022 in hopes of protecting tenants rights and reducing the barriers to accessing housing part of the law clarified the amount of fees that housing providers are allowed to collect from tenants prior to signing a lease since the law passed however tenants have noticed a pattern of housing providers charging application fees plus fees by another name like processing fees this was never council's intention and we are trying to fix that here earlier this year councilmember Henderson introduced Bill 25-74 the fairness and renting clarification Amendment Act of 2023. eight council members including myself co-introduced or sponsored the bill the goal was to stop this unintended loophole that is putting excessive fees on people for things that are impossible to avoid like applying for housing and moving in on May 18th the committee on housing held a hearing on this bill and heard overwhelming support for the Bill's intent the committee also heard several critical recommendations from tenants tenant attorneys case managers ancs and housing providers after the hearing my committee team worked with witnesses to tighten the language prevent additional loopholes and ensure effective implementation of the bill one of the major changes we incorporated was the inclusion of a broad definition of application fee which will cover any fee a housing provider charges a prospective tenant prior to signing a lease and limit the potential for future loopholes the bill also now specifies that housing providers cannot pass on maintenance costs to tenants and cannot charge tenants professional cleaning fees if tenants keep their units in good condition on June 22nd the committee unanimously passed the amendment Billet markup since the hearing my team has continued discussing a couple of technical adjustments with tenant attorneys and housing providers that I will propose as an amendment during the committee of the whole meeting before I do I want to thank those who testified on this bill and those who worked with the committee of without objection thank you Mr chairman um including Lee Higgins Marta Barrison Mel Zahn Joel Kong Brit Ruffin Joy tromboli Curtis Alston Catalan Peter Rachelle Ellison Reginald black nakila Smith Robert Warren Craig London Karen Lundgren and ANC Commissioners troopy Patel and Ahmad Abu khalaf your insights and edits were imperative to improving the bill and making sure the law could be implemented as desired I'm encouraged that by passing this bill council is taking a step to strengthen this position that housing is a right that must be accessible to all without objection I'd like to incorporate the amendment I circulated yesterday um on June 22nd the committee on housing unanimously passed bill 25-74 at a committee markup following the markup vote the committee received recommendations as I mentioned the first proposed change is a technical amendment that maintains the existing intent while providing additional Clarity for compliance with a cross-reference law last year Council passed a temporary law that amended the rental Housing Act of 1985 that law prohibited housing providers from filing to recover possession for non-payment of rent if the amount owed is under 600 Council later passed a permanent version of the prohibition but moved it from the rental Housing Act of 1985 to title 16 of the DC code the bill currently adds an internal cross-reference using the phrase in pursuant to that connects both portions of the law the awesome Office of the tenant Advocates suggested making this provision clearer by maintaining the 600 or more description and adjusting the notice language that housing providers must give tenants of an intent to file a claim the second part of the amendment proposed is necessary to ensure housing providers with tenants in the rent stabilized units have sufficient time to comply with the 60-day notice provision for rent increases under current law the district's rental Housing Commission must certify and publish the annual adjustments for rent stability stabilized units before March 1st housing providers can begin adjusting tenant rents on May 1st which is exactly 60 days after the rhc's March 1st deadline because this bill would require housing providers to give 60 days notice to tenants of rent increases housing providers who want to increase tenant rents on May 1st but have to receive the rhc's annual adjustment on March 1st and issue notices to tenants the same day that is not feasible for many housing providers with the rhc support this amendment changes the rhc deadline for March 1st to February 1st and is necessary to ensure how housing providers have sufficient time to comply with the new notice provisions of proposed v25-74 so I moved this amendment Mr chairman all right your proposal is that we have the amendment here uh so we don't have to take it off of consent at the legislative meeting correct and that is possible under our rules if there's no objection to the amendment and I'm not hearing any objection to the amendment hearing none uh so moved all right or so ordered or so whatever the amendment is included with the bill is there anything further from members in terms of questions um Mr chairman yes councilmember Henderson uh since this won't be on consent if could I ask a question to councilmember white as the introducer of this measure questions are in order thank you um councilmember white thank you to you and your staff for your work on strengthening uh this legislation to move forward um I'm curious um if this got a pot if this legislation received a positive Ria in terms of its impact yes it did and councilmember white um do you believe that this would help renters in the district especially as they plan when there is a rental increase uh I I do think it will help renters um as as I mentioned in my statement a couple things are unavoidable applying for housing and moving in um and we have to be very thoughtful about where we apply fees so these additional and unanticipated and sometimes unclear fees cause real financial hardship to people and limit their housing options thank you um thank you Mr chairman I agree uh thank you I assume there was a question mark at the end of agree uh any other questions from members Madam general counsel is to measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is I'm secretaries to record complete yes it is Madam budget director does the measures physical impact statement comply with Council requirements yes it does the objection this measure with its Amendment will be on the consent agenda for today's legislative meeting uh the next item for uh agendisement is Bill 25-115 which was reported out of the community on Transportation in the environment shared by uh councilmember Charles Allen it is the electric bicycle rebate program Amendment Act of 2023 councilmember Allen thank you very much Mr chairman I along with councilors pinto frumin gray Lewis George McDuffie Nadeau Parker and Robert White introduced Bill 25-115 the electric bicycle rebate program Amendment Act of 2023 on February 2nd 2023 as introduced the bill of establish an electric bicycle rebate program to issue rebates to District residents to encourage the purchase and use of e-bikes and to issue grants for retailers in the district to either defray the cost of hiring training and retaining bike work bike repair workers as well as to fray the costs associated with opening a retail store in Awards seven and eight the bill was referred to the committee on transportation and environment on February 7th in the committee holiday public hearing for the bill on March 16 2023 along with bill 25-32 the e-bike bill which I'll refer to in a moment on Friday June 16th 2023 the committee on Transportation the environment marked up Bill 25-115 the electric bicycle incentive program Amendment Act of 2023 with a measure receiving unanimous support from the members present and voting committee print approved by the committee is very similar to the bill is introduced with a few key differences first the committee print more clearly distinguishes between the two main incentives available under the bill rebates and vouchers rebates or payments issued to District residents after they've already paid for an item for which the incentives are available and vouchers of course are issued to Residents prior to the purchase of a qualifying item vouchers can then be redeemed at authorized retailers bike shops that have entered into a memorandum of agreement with the district to accept vouchers apply those vouchers on as a discount at the point of sale and receive payments from the program to cover the difference to better reflect the broader range of incentives under the bill the committee print renamed the bill the electric bicycle incentive program at movement Act of 2023 second the print simplifies the definition of preferred applicants from the introduced version to cover residents who enrolled in TANF snap Medicaid or the DC Healthcare Alliance under the streamlined definition DDOT can simply look at an applicant's current enrollment and other benefit programs to see if they qualify as a preferred applicant the committee print also incorporates a provision from councilmer Pinto's e-bike Bill Bill 25-32 to require that at least 50 percent of the value of all rebates over a fiscal year be issued your preferred applicants helping ensure that incentives are being issued to the individuals and families who need it most and finally to preempt safety issues seen in other jurisdictions the committee print specifies that incentives may only be issued for items that meet the two most applicable International safety standards to assure that DC only incentivizes quality and safe items we know that there are clear links between motor vehicle usage and Rising global temperatures lower air quality water quality and growing number of cases of asthma and other cardiovascular diseases personal vehicle use is within the United States the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions within the transportation sector and researchers have attributed nearly a quarter of all childhood asthma cases to traffic pollution one tool that we can use to reduce carbon emissions better protect the environment and improve our own well-being is discouraging personal vehicle use and promoting alternative modes of Transport that are more sustainable e-bikes have quickly emerged as one of the best options for traveling within the district and this bill helps ensure that more families in the district will have access to that technology and mode of travel with that Mr chairman I ask that bill 25-115 he added the consent agenda for the legislative meeting to follow thank you councilmember other questions from members Madam general counsel is to measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is um secretary is the record complete yes it is and a budget director does the measures physical impact statement comply with Council requirements yes it does without objection dispatch will be placed on the consent agenda for today's legislative meeting that concludes the items of business for this meeting of the committee of the whole unless something comes up unforeseen the next meeting of the committee the home will be on September 19th 2023 presumably at 11 o'clock in the morning uh after I joined this meeting uh we will take a few minutes Mr assistant secretary how long five minutes um then we'll start the legislative lead time is 1 56 p.m and this meeting's adjourned I'm going to order this meeting this is a meeting of the Council of the District of Columbia it's the 12th legislative meeting of council period 25. I'm Phil Mendelson chairman of the council today is Tuesday July 11 2023 the time is 206 in the afternoon uh this meeting is being held in person in room 500 the council chambers of the Johnny Wilson building there are two members who are participating virtually via the zoom in a zoom video internet platform conference platform um this is a regular meeting of the council we always begin our legislative meetings with a moment of silence I would ask that everyone in the chamber as well as participating virtually I'll respect a moment of silence for reflection please um secretary would you call the rule councilmember Allen that's from Ballin councilmember bonds here councilmember Freeman president councilmember Gray yeah councilmember Henderson here comes from Lewis George here councilwoman McDuffie chairman mendelton president councilman down here councilmember Parker here councilmember Pinson president councilmember Robert Wayne White present councilmember Allen here Mr chairman you have a quorum uh thank you Madam Secretary we have uh the secretary's report of committee filings I'm going to recognize councilman McDuffie the chair Pro Tem thank you Mr chairman I'm going to move towards the reading of the secretary's report it's an emotional way the reading of the report is there discussion on the motion to waive the reading of the report all those in favor say aye aye aye are there any opposed yeah I just have it unanimously uh we have the secretary's report of introductions and referrals again I'm going to recognize councilmember McDuffie the chair Pro tem and I will move to where the reading of the secretary's report of introductions to an emotional ways of reading of the report is there discussion on the motion to wave the reading all those in favor say aye aye aye aye aye are there any opposed how the eyes have unanimously uh we have the consent agenda are there any changes to the consent agenda and I will note the consent agenda he goes from page one to most of page eight are there any changes to the consent agenda customer bonds um I just want to make sure on page three number three um did we move that to non-consent the discussion we had about fairness and renting clarification uh that is on consent there was an amendment that was moved in the committee of the whole right and unless you want it off of consent I do not you do not I was inquiring as to whether or not we had in fact moved it to non-consent and you have answered that question so I know we have not moved it to none correct it remains on the consent agenda all right well thank you chairman there's nothing further Madam Secretary would you call the role uh that the vote is on the consent agenda without any changes how's Robert Trey on white yes that's what Michelle might vote Yes comes from ballen yes councilman votes yes councilmember bonds yes councilmember bonds votes yes councilmember Freeman yes councilmember Freeman votes yes councilmember gray yes councilmember gray votes yes councilmember Henderson yes councilmember Henderson votes yes councilman believes George yes I was from Lewis George votes yes Council Ronald mcdappy yes councilmember McDuffie votes yes chairman Mendelson yes yes councilmember Parker yes councilmember Parker votes yes councilmember Pinto councilman Pinto yes councilmember pincho votes yes and councilmember Robert White yes that's from Robert White votes yes Mr chairman there are 13 answers the consent agendas approved unanimously well the good news is we're halfway through the agenda uh beginning on page eight we have the local rent supplement program contracts uh there are four of them councilor white T1 and moved in block or you want to move them individually uh in blocklays chairman there's no objection uh there's four resolutions PR 25-297 298 302 and 304 are um before us in Block councilmember White thank you chairman uh the district government provides a variety of supports for affordable housing development including bonds from the DC Housing Finance Agency uh Gap financing from the housing production trust fund and tax incentives through our local version of the low-income housing tax credit program most relevant for purposes of these resolutions the DC Housing Authority provides operating subsidies to complete a project through the local rent supplement program over the last few years the various agencies involved in funding and financing affordable housing has started collaborating much more closely they prepare joint solicitations called Consolidated rfps once or twice a year and they award multiple forms of assistance to projects all at once today we have contracts related to four of these Consolidated RFP Awards specifically we're looking at agreements to enter into long-term subsidy contracts in each case dcha will agree to provide an operating subsidy once in the affordable housing project comes online the subsidies will help the owners offer Apartments to households making 30 or less of the area of median income the projects to be supported are a 40 seven unit senior housing building at 57th and big Street Northeast in Ward 7 with 24 the unit supported by the local rent supplement program plus 10 permanent Supportive Housing units a 56-unit senior affordable housing building at 4th and Edgewood Northeast in Ward 5 and 52 unit senior affordable housing building on Western Avenue near Connecticut Avenue Northwest and Ward 3 with 19 permanent Supportive Housing units and a 52-unit building near Ontario and kalorama Road Northwest in Ward one with 23 lrsp supported units and six permanent Supportive Housing units prioritizing people with a Criminal system involvement these aren't emergency contracts they are multi-year contracts which require our affirmative approval under home rule act under the home rule act I want to thank the secretary and her team for helping us make sure he's got when the agenda despite some procedural hiccups I have no substantive concerns at this time and I move proposed resolution 25-297 25-298 25-302 and 25-304 thank you chairman uh thank you councilmember is there a discussion Madam Secretary would you call the role the vote will be on those four resolutions uh number one through four on pages eight and nine yes councilman votes yes councilmember bonds yes councilmember bonds votes yes councilmember Freeman yes councilmember Freeman votes yes councilmember Gray yes comes from the gray votes yes councilmember Henderson yes councilmember Henderson votes yes comes from Lewis George yes that's remember Lewis George votes yes councilmember McDuffie yes councilmember McDuffie votes yes chairman mendelton yes chairman Mendelson votes yes councilman Bernardo yes councilman bonado votes yes councilmember Parker yes councilman Parker votes yes councilmember Pinter yes councilmember Pinto votes yes councilmember Robert White yes councilmember Robert White votes yes and customer betray on way yes customer Tran white votes yes Mr chairman there are 13 yeses thank you Madam Secretary the four resolutions are approved unanimously uh the next measure is pr25-338 Council period 25 recess rules Amendment resolution of 2023 uh so moved uh what this um resolution does and this was explained in more detail in the circulating memorandum last week and then uh when it was circulated in final yesterday with an email from uh Mr Cash the legislative director uh explains the um saw summarize it allows for Grant budget modifications for the University of the District of Columbia during the recess it allows for federal infrastructure grants during the recess it allows the Committees on business and economic development and executive Administration labor to meet and hold hearings with regard to issues of sexual harassment in uh the agencies under their purview it also allows the committee on health to meet or hold hearings with regard to Medicaid enrollment issues the resolution the rules changes are repeals councils the council's coveted vaccine mandate it aligns to council rules with the new hearing management system it clarifies the Ria racial Equity impact assessment process it reduces ethics training for staff so those who do not have to file would only with the with Vega who would only have to take ethics training once during the council period as opposed to everyone who has to file and I'm correcting myself from what I said at the breakfast this morning both public and non-public filers would have to still have to take ethics training once a year uh the recess rules resolution also clarifies when measures are introduced this is a clarification in our practice all along has been that the count starts when um the log is read as it was today I want to say a little bit more regarding uh the rule regarding racial Equity impact statements I received this this morning from staff a couple of changes and I'm sort of pointing to the general continent pointing but leaning over to general counsel uh some wording clarification uh if a committee provides notice to the Council Office of racial Equity before 30 days after the close of the hearing record uh um I think then uh gosh I don't remember the rest of this I just I'm striking the words pursuant to subsection D2 of this rule and I'm also striking language it makes a reference to subsection a of the rule some mandatory section D2 at least 10 business days before the markup of a bill the commute shares shall notify the director of racial Equity of the intent to mark up the measure uh Madam general counsel I'm kind of summarizing this I was told that your staff thought they could Tech this but I wanted to make sure it was in the record yep I've got it I do want to say it would be helpful if folks gave me all the changes they want the day before so that I'm not sitting here at a legislative meeting moving an amendment to an amendment to the bill or in this case the resolution there's no objection to those Corrections or clarifications as I said I'm moving the council period 25 recess rules Amendment resolution PR 25-338 questions or discussion Mr chairman yes Mr Parker I understand that these changes would allow two of our committees to proceed with meetings our hearings and I'm curious if any are scheduled or is this just more a procedural opportunity to allow them to move forward should they schedule something uh I'll let each of the community chairs speak to the councilmember bonds thank you chairman and to um colleague um I we do not have any meetings scheduled yet but we do anticipate scheduling meetings um we know we um must undergo a process of collecting information information about um the mayor's order as an example and the um I guess the breadth of complaints that maybe have been filed by the various agencies as it relates to um harassment that is the work of the um committee on Executive Administration and labor but we do anticipate there will be meetings and the goal is to get that preliminary information gathered and um a sort of organized so that in the fall when we come back after recess when everyone is available that we can take a look at it more judiciously thank you thank you councilman Parker are you satisfied for the moment oh no other members uh councilmember McDuffie similarly to uh the chair of the committee on Executive Administration and labor we don't yet have any meeting scheduled but we asked the chairman for this measure in order to have the ability to schedule meetings that we anticipate uh given aspects of the summary report and certain allegations that fail either outside the scope or require additional uh investigation or analysis and so uh some of them have to do for example with hiring promotions and allegations of bullying and things of that nature that fall squarely within the committee on business and economic development and it's true I plan to talk to the members of that committee as well as talk to my fellow chair of the committee on Executive Administration and Labor uh to plan what the summer looked like thank you councilmember Henderson um thank you Mr chairman um as colleagues know the Department of Healthcare Finance right now is going through the Medicaid unwinding unwinding process um under the federal Public Health Emergency there were no redeterminations that were done um and so we're now beginning that process um so far we have had about 2 900 people who have been terminated from Medicaid due to paperwork issues so basically not being responsive um and over the course of the summer there are about 32 000 people who have the potential to be terminated um we are waiting for updated numbers from Healthcare Finance which should be coming any day now in terms of updating what has happened over the last month so once we have that we will make a determination of whether or not we need to talk to agencies around what is our is our Outreach plan working um and the um felt that it was important for us not to wait until the end of September to talk about these issues as folks are in the middle of losing their health care coverage councilmember Parker you're good any uh further discussion with regard to the recess rules I think we can do this by Voice vote so we have the recess rules uh as circulated yesterday and with some um technical Corrections that I noted uh when I introduced this all those in favor of the resolution pr25-338 say aye opposed I don't hear any no votes uh the eyes have it unanimously turn now to uh emergency legislation the first measure is advisory commission remote operations emergency decoration resolution 2023 the Declaration is PR 25-322 councilmember White foreign thank you chairman since 2020 the council has authorized advisory neighborhood commissions to meet in person remotely or in hybrid fashion the most recent version of that legislation is set to expire shortly after we return from Recess so it needs to be continued today the prior legislation also included some elections related Provisions which had been since been enacted in permanent law so I'm not including them in this bill since the pandemic began commissions across the city have told us that they valued the flexibility to meet in ways that best engage their own constituents many commissions saw unprecedented participation when they switched to remote meetings while Commissioners themselves also benefited from the flexibility to meet remotely so they can more easily tend to their families and other work obligations the office of anc's has also invested over the last couple years in both Zoom licenses and hybrid meeting kits to provide ancs with the software and Equipment they need to meet with residents in a variety of ways some of that technology is still being procured and made available to commissions of course not all communities are equally comfortable online and not all events and meetings are best held over Zoom that said I continue to believe Commissioners themselves are best positioned to decide how to engage their constituents I don't think that has changed since the pandemic has eased and I intend to make this meeting authorization permanent this Council period this legislation maintains the status quo until that time Mr chairman I moved the advisory neighborhood commission remote operations emergency declaration resolution of 2023. thank you councilmember discussion uh we'll have a roll call vote on the Declaration Madam Secretary yes customer bonds votes yes councilmember Freeman yes councilmember Freeman votes yes councilmember Gray yes that's from the gray votes yes councilmember Henderson yes councilmember Henderson votes yes comes from bluish George yes George votes yes councilmember McDuffie yes councilmember McDuffie votes Tremor Mendelson yes chairman mendels and votes yes councilmember Nadeau yes councilman Bernardo votes yes councilmember Parker yes councilmember Parker votes yes councilmember Pinto yes councilmember Pinto votes yes councilmember Robert White yes councilmember Robert White votes yes councilmember Treyon white yes and councilmember Allen yes councilmember Allen votes yes Mr chairman they have 13 answers yes unanimously the Declaration is approved the underlying bill is Bill 25-361 councilmember white so moved discussion we'll have a Voice vote all those in favor of the bill say aye aye aye aye are there any no votes I don't see or hear any no votes the bill is approved unanimously [Music] the next measure is pr25-323 foreclosure more tournament homeowner assistance fund coordination emergency declaration resolution of 2023. councilmember White thank you chairman this is an extension of existing temporary legislation it protects homeowners from foreclosure if they apply for the homeowner assistance fund before last October the Department of Housing and Community Development advised us that they still need to process the 400 half applications from that time According to dhcd some leaders haven't been responding to investigations um I'm sorry invitations to register for half payments or to verify how much they're owed even so dhcd has processed about 500 applications in just the last three months I support keeping a limited foreclosure moratorium in place to keep people in their homes who are still waiting on the assistance we are offering I move the Foreclosure moratorium and homeowner assistance fund coordination emergency declaration resolution of 2000 2022 thank you chairman thank you councilmember is there discussion uh the vote will be on PR 25-323 um secretary would you call the role yes Robert frumin yes councilmember Freeman votes yes councilmember Gray yes councilmember gray votes yes councilmember Henderson yes councilmember Henderson votes Yes councilmember Lewis George Yes councilmember Lewis George votes yes councilmember McDuffie yes councilman McDuffie votes yes chairman mendelton yes chairman Mendelson votes yes councilmember Nadal yes councilman Bernardo votes yes councilmember Parker yes councilmember Parker votes yes councilmember Pinto yes councilmember Robert White votes yes councilman betray online yes councilman Tran white votes yes councilmember Allen yes councilmember Allen votes yes and council member bonds yes councilman bonds votes yes Mr chairman they're 13 years uh thank you Madam Secretary the declaration has approved unanimously uh we have the underlying Bill Bill 25-363 councilmember White so moved discussion I'll buy a voice photo all those in favor of the bill say aye aye aye aye are there any opposed I don't see or hear any no votes the eyes have it unanimously the next measure is PR 25-339 limited purpose credential clarification emergency declaration resolution of 2023. councilmember Allen thank you Mr chairman uh as you all know the District offers a limited purpose driver's license permit or ID for residents who are not able to obtain a real ID generally non-citizens and non-permanent residents however many people who have entered the United States have been detained by Homeland Security and then are released pending and immigration hearing and are also not able to get a limited purpose ID that's because after detention and release Homeland Security seizes migrants personal documents to induce them to show up for later hearings but when the other DHS seizes those documents it means that someone in this situation does not have any proof of identity documents that our DMV currently accepts for a limited purpose ID having a limited purpose ID allows people to integrate into our community sign leases go to library get a marriage or birth certificate and for some immigration proceedings migrants are actually required to have a state issued ID I'd worked with the DMV on a short-term solution to at least provide IDs for people who had been bused here against their will by the governors of Arizona and Texas while we work on a longer term solution through permanent legislation it would have involved the office of Migrant Services providing a letter affirming the identity of the migrants that they are providing services for already and confirming that they are currently living in a district and while the DMV agreed to absorb their costs associated with creating a form for the office of Migrant services to use the Department of Human Services has determined that they would need additional staff to implement the office of Migrant Services end of that work I'm disappointed that DHS wasn't more willing to find a way to make even this very narrow solution work but I do want to thank councilor Robert White and his staff for helping us work toward a solution I want to thank the DMV for their willingness to work together on absorbing those costs but without a or with a fiscal impact from DHS we are unable to move forward on this today so I'll be withdrawing the measure today I look forward to working on a more comprehensive solution this fall through permanent legislation Mr chairman councilmember if it's on this briefly because it's been withdrawn um I'm I'm wondering uh if it would be in order to ask council member Allen to consider or you chairman to consider a motion to postpone this to the end of the meeting so that more time can be taken on the 5th with the budget office and DHS so it comes from around I'm fine with that if you would I can withdraw my withdrawal and make a motion uh to postpone to later in the agenda or later in the agenda or later at the agenda that's what my colleague is asking for later in the agenda today not to postpone to a future meeting but just to come back to you later in the agenda today Mr chairman can we skip it come back Hope Springs Eternal um this is an objection we are reconsidering this um although I didn't quite say it was withdrawn um yes you'll have to remind me because there's a nap between now and then that I may not remember but uh sure there's no objection we'll take this up later in the agenda thank you uh the next measures PR 25 best 324 migrant services and supports extension emergency declaration resolution of 2023. council member Robert White thank you chairman last year the council collaborated with the mayor to pass emergency and temporary legislation aimed at establishing a support system for migrants who recently arrived in the district as part of this effort the office of Migrant services or OMS was established to provide health and safety support to migrants earlier this year the council clarified the initial temporary measure by safeguarding The Residency status of District residents with documentation Data before April 1st 2022 ensuring non-congregate housing for children and families and improving procedural protections for migrants the measure before us will extend the existing temporary migrant Services legislation and subsequent clarifications while the committee considers what a permanent support system for migrants should look like since April 13 2022 at least 19 000 people have arrived in the District of Columbia from Tech Texas and Arizona and over 590 buses in June the district welcomed 14 buses and just last week over 100 migrants arrived from Texas on several buses recently OMS opened its welcome and Respite Center for migrants which is equipped to provide financial assistance for train tickets and bus fare for onward travel and other Support Services unfortunately the federal government has provided no meaningful assistance in addressing the pressing issue of bussing while the GOP has been using legal Asylum Seekers for political purposes these are human beings who are often being sent to the district a city that is expensive and challenging to navigate it has been left to us to meet their needs without compromising the services we are providing to pre-existing residents that balance is incredibly challenging for any City to achieve to avoid sudden gaps and services over the recess this legislation will continue to authorize OMS to provide targeted services to my we acknowledge that Mutual Aid groups and non-profits are ill-equipped to handle this challenge alone while we take this step I continue to call on the federal government to start providing substantial assistance in addressing the needs of migrants thank you chairman I move the migrant services and supports extension emergency declaration resolution of 2023. thank you we have the Declaration before us as our discussion we'll have a roll call vote Madam Secretary councilmember Gray yes Council Robert gray votes yes councilmember Henderson yes councilmember Henderson votes Yes councilmember Lewis George yes George votes yes councilmember McDuffie yes councilmember Duffy Boats yes chairman mendelton yes chairman Mendelson votes yes councilmember yes Council Roberto votes yes councilmember Parker yes councilmember Parker votes yes councilmember Pinto yes councilmember pinchill votes yes councilmember Robert White yes councilmember Robert White votes yes councilmember yes councilmember Tree on white boats yes councilmember Allen yes comes from Allen both yes yes council member bonds vote Cs and council member Freeman yes councilmember Fullman votes yes Mr chairman they're 13 uses thank you Madam Secretary the declaration has approved unanimously we have the underlying Bill Bill 25-365 councilmember white so moved discussion all those in favor of the bill bill 25-365 say yes yes all those opposed you guys have it unanimously how the next bill is pr20 actually the next measure is PR 25-227 family rehousing stabilization program protection emergency declaration resolution of 2023. councilmember white thank you chairman I want to thank you for co-introducing this measure with me and for you and your team's hard work on this issue for some time now this measure ensures that families in the family rehousing stabilization program frsp or rapid rehousing can be considered for an extension if they don't have a guaranteed home after completing the program currently DHS regulations allow recipients to be evaluated for an extension of their time in Rapid rehousing based on factors including the availability of funding within frsp program the recipient's sincere efforts to secure stable housing the fact that they have not yet been approved for permanent affordable housing or other relevant considerations if the agency denies an extension the recipient has the option to file an appeal and receive a fair hearing this measure simply codifies what DHS is already doing so that DHS cannot change its practice through new rules that remove the possibility of an extension while the council is on recess and unable to respond according to DHS around 207 families will be exited from the frsp program within the next six months if any of these families are eligible for an extension they should be thoroughly considered for one eligibility for permanent housing assistance for families exiting rapid re-housing has been a point of contention between the council and DHS for some time despite legislation in in Prior budget support acts that was intended to make the council's intent clear my committee intends to take up that issue through permanent legislation in the fall in the meantime I move the family re-housing stabilization program protection emergency declaration resolution of 2023. thank you chairman thank you councilmember is there discussion since I'm a co-introducer on this I do want to say besides the fact that I'm co-inducing this and supporting it that I am concerned that the rapid rehousing program is not being used in my view as effectively as it should be it's supposed to be short-term housing to help those who can get back on their feet to stabilize so that they can get back on their feet instead of just sticking them in a Perpetual cycle of housing challenge I don't think that the Department of Human Services has gotten rapid re-housing right and uh it could be much more effective there is permanent legislation is pending and I know councilmember you are working on that but I did just want to say for the record that this in my view is a short-term Aid that we have before us and that there are deeper problems that DHS really has to fix if there's no further discussion Madam Secretary would you call the role the voters on PR 25-327 councilmember Henderson yes councilmember Henderson votes Yes councilmember Lewis George yes comes from Lewis George votes yes councilmember McDuffie yes councilmember McDuffie votes yes chairman Mendelson yes chairman Mendelson votes yes councilman benedale yes as Robert nadeaux votes yes councilmember Parker yes councilmember Parker votes yes councilmember Pinto yes councilmember Pinto votes yes councilmember Robert White yes councilmember Robert White votes he has councilmember Tran white yes councilmember Allen yes councilmember Allen votes yes councilmember bonds yes councilmember bonds yes yes councilmember Freeman yes councilmember Freeman votes yes and councilmember gray yes that's one for great votes yes Mr chairman they're 13 yeses the Declaration is approved unanimously we have the underlying Bill Bill 25-371 councilmember White so moved discussion all those in favor of the bill say aye aye [Music] aye a lot of energy behind that vote uh are there any no votes I don't hear any no votes are the Bills approved unanimously the next measure is pr25-329 office of unified Communications transparency and accuracy emergency declaration resolution of 2023 councilmember Pinto thank you Mr chairman today I'm moving the office of unified Communications transparency and accuracy emergency Amendment act and Associated declaration DC residents deserve a 9-1-1 call center that is responsive timely accurate transparent and accountable these measures mirror Provisions within Bill 25344 the office of unified Communications transparency and accuracy Amendment Act of 2023 which I along with council members Parker and Henderson introduced last month as members know in recent years OUC has experienced delays in call and dispatch times that well exceed National best practices a March 2023 report by the DC auditor also identified a number of misrooted calls dropped calls and other errors exacerbating these delays and errors are long-standing issues with hiring and retention at the agency at the hearing on Heather mcgathan's confirmation is ouc's director the new director made a number of commitments to address these issues that by request including more formalized publicity public-facing data reporting the emergency measures before us today would codify a number of those commitments director mcgaffin made the committee during that hearing specifically the measures require that OUC regularly publish call data on the agency's website including a description of Errors number of shifts operated under the minimum Staffing levels average and maximum call to answer times average maximum answer to dispatch times number of calls in a queue for over 15 seconds which again is the national average number of calls dropped following a queue time of over 15 seconds and the number of type of number and type of 911 misuse calls of course data alone will not fix these issues and my committee is committed to pursuing the necessary reforms to ensure our emergency call response is accurate timely and accessible to Residents in need that said that work begins with good data which will allow us to best ensure that reforms Advance by the committee and in partnership with our office of unified Communications are precisely tailored to the challenges that we're seeing regarding the need to pass these emergencies measures today given the health and safety risks posed by these errors residents cannot wait the months that it would take for permanent legislation to pass through the council and undergo mayoral and Congressional review although I do plan to move a permanent thus I am proposing these emergency measures today to accelerate adoption of these measures so these reporting requirements go into effect later this summer getting this data posted sooner should also accelerate the committee's ability to develop broader reforms with the agency I move the emergency declaration thank you councilmember we have the Declaration before us is there discussion Mr chairman councilmember Parker I was proud to co-introduce this legislation and there's been a lot of discussion around Public Safety understandably but our 9-1-1 Center uh should be included in many of those discussions and I believe adding necessary transparency requirements for the agency is a step in the right direction especially given the issues that OUC has had I just want to reference two specific instances one I've I've found so far director mcgaffin uh responsive um there were Trinidad neighbors there were troubled that after a shooting and calling 9-1-1 it took over 25 minutes for police to arrive and I had to reach out to the director and OUC to try to get a better understanding what was going on there and this legislation or this bill would make sure that that data and information is readily available so that there isn't a need a one-off request and then even just today as I was going through my emails I got another uh email from a neighbor who said oh I called 9-1-1 and no one answered and so I'm just highlighting those not to shame and blame but to say that we as a body need to better understand what's going on with OUC and I believe having this data readily available or would allow the committee to pinpoint Solutions and help turn things around so I'm looking forward to voting for this and I'm thinking this is going to be an additional step for us for it thank you thank you councilmember council member Tran white oh thank you chip I want to thank you councilman pinto and other introducers uh for the this this measure um I've got a number of concerns from constituents over the years even prior to director mcgaffin's leadership um I do say she has been extremely um responsive to my calls but unfortunately that I've personally had a situation um after interacting with officer unified Communications for three hours about a measure and told something about two different people that never happened so it is my belief that you know when people are calling officer unified communication is never because they having a party or something good is going on it's because they need a response immediately uh from law enforcement or paramedics or whatever the case may be and so it's imperative that we uh to know as a government what's happening and what's not happening with our communication from residents calling oh you see and so I want to thank you and hope so we can go in the right direction to figure out what uh some of the gaps and closing those gaps to respond to Residents quicker in a more efficient way uh so I want to thank you councilman Pinto thank you councilmember additional discussion we have the um declaration before us this is PR 25-329 Madam Secretary would you call the roll please councilmember Lewis George Yes councilmember Lewis George votes yes councilmember McDuffie yes councilmember McDuffie votes yes chairman Mendelson yes chairman mendelton votes yes councilmember yes councilman bernadelle votes yes councilmember Parker yes councilmember Parker votes yes council member Pinto Gray yes that's one of the gray votes yes councilmember Henderson yes councilmember Henderson votes yes Mr chairman they have 13 yeses thank you Madam Secretary the declaration has approved unanimously we have the underlying Bill Bill 25-374 councilmember Pinto I move the emergency Act uh the Bill's been moved is there discussion uh by Voice vote all those in favor of the bill say aye aye aye are there any no votes I don't see or hear any no votes the bills approved unanimously the next measure is PR 25-336 law enforcement vehicular Pursuit clarification emergency declaration resolution of 2023 councilmember Pinto thank you Mr chairman today I am moving emergency legislation to address what is essentially or should be essentially a technical issue in the comprehensive policing and Justice Reform law the permanent version of which recently went into effect the laws provision covering the vehicular Pursuits imposes strict limits on when police officers can engage in a Pursuit and that is a good policy MPD agrees with us too which is why the legislation largely tracked mpd's existing police chase policy in the district however in the course of drafting a new Chase policy to comply with the police reform law mpd's lawyers determined that the way the law is currently written effectively prohibits them from engaging in any vehicle Pursuits clearly that is not what the council intended to do our policies should limit Pursuits to cases where they are absolutely necessary and won't create a danger to public but of course we can't ban all chases it's worth noting that we are not aware of any jurisdiction in the United States that has a no chase policy at any rate if we had intended to ban all chases we would have simply done that the bill corrects this issue with the legislation and gives MPD what they need to implement a limited Pursuit policy that helps keep people safe although the language of this bill is the product of thoughtful conversations between MPD council member Louis George council member Allen and my team so I appreciate everybody working together towards the outcome that I think we can all Stand Together on I also want to note Mr chairman I have a tiny Amendment to the emergency act that makes two small clarifying edits and I'll speak to that amendment when we take up the emergency act I move the emergency declaration thank you councilmember um have you circulated the amendment or is it we circulated this morning all right so members can find it if they haven't already because it was circulated um is there discussion on the Declaration um what's that customer yeah I want to make a comment please uh I want to thank uh councilman Pinto I guess for me is I I do know that we have to empower our Police Department to use greater discretion but also want them to have the ability to think they can pursue people who have committed crimes uh I've seen personally where there has been crimes committed more particularly shootings and police did nothing set there in one instance I seen a police officer cut a siren on after the shooting is set there um and most recently I was at a crime scene of two juvenile shot and by the time I got there probably about 35 minutes after the shooting and I was asking the uh white shirt on on the scene all these rounds when when I went on in the residence Community I mean talking about people Windows shut out their homes two kids and they died um and no Chopper was in it so even further we talked about this in the breakfast meeting I would like to see something done that gives them uh more push to put the helicopter in the air because um in my experience most individuals who are committing these heinous crimes are not going to West Virginia and New York Philadelphia in the area somewhere in DC is not that big and so we have a lookout we should try to find out where those individuals are instead of just having 20 officers standing around at a crime scene putting up tape just standing there um and so while this is a uh move in the right direction I would like to look even even further um in speaking with the interim Chief about what we can do to ensure that there is uh actual pursuit of suspect especially when a bolo was put out about the potential suspect and Carr involved in violent incidents so thank you councilman Pinto but I look forward to doing more in the permanent oh thank you councilmember councilmember Lewis George thank you chairman I will speak to it um when I first introduced a law enforcement vehicle or Pursuit for form Act of 2021 it was unfortunately at a time when the officer involved crashes were the most frequent case uh cause of MPD settlements uh in fiscal year 2020 alone adding up to more than 3.7 million uh it was also after Quran Hilton Brown a beloved 20 year old DC resident in our community in War 4 was killed after being chased by officers while uh on a moped um an officer's decision on whether to speak to to do a speed chase after someone always should prioritize and Safeguard human life uh and I think the law enforcement vehicular Pursuit reformed Act of 2021 prioritizes the safety of D.C residents by uh falling in line with that the the um that notion um and it offered necessary guidance on when an officer should pursue someone uh the legislation at a time aligned with the district's uh practices event that has been said in line with those uh were already District practices and those recently implemented other jurisdictions such as Baltimore Maryland New Orleans Louisiana in line with the recommendations and in line with the recommendations of the U.S Department of Justice uh the legislation was necessary then and it continues to be an important part in how the district responds to public safety issues vehicular Pursuits are inherently dangerous dangerous for officers for bystanders for suspects and victims and they should only be used when absolutely necessary but there are instances when they should be used I'm hopeful that this technical guidance will give MPD the necessary guidance to do that so when MBD indicated that they needed more clarification and support I think we all work together to make sure the necessary changes were made including councilmember Allen and councilman Pinto uh I do well I think this is a sort of premature change I will continue to work with all of the counterparts and do what is necessary to keep our streets safe these changes reflect Council stakeholder and MPD input so that we can have safer communities and safer streets and so I want to make it clear that we have worked together here and in no way uh uh is the council hindering MPD from doing their job that is necessary and this is a reflection of when we work together to come up with something that better keeps our streets safe and our communities safe thank you thank you councilmember further on the bill for the Declaration councilmember Robert White thank you uh chairman I think most people in the city recognize that we do have a problem both the public safety problem and a problem where people believe that if they jump in the car and drive away that the police won't Chase um and I believe that most of us believe we we have to do something but as we do something we have to make sure that we keep our eyes clear so that we don't unintentionally cause different problems um I am supporting this bill because it's something we're doing on an emergency but it's something I want us to continue to analyze over the summer uh as I look at mpd's requests for us to act on vehicular Pursuits and they shared with us uh to heart-wrenching examples of why they need a change in law one involved a uh a carjacked car with a six-year-old child inside and my question to that example is one why could MPD not chase that car under current law but perhaps more importantly with a change in law even a completely wide open uh Pursuit policy would MPD engage in a Chase of a car with a child inside so I don't know that that example meets the change that they are asking us to make the second is example of a carjacked car that then engages in five armed robberies uh as I read the current law MPD could pursue that vehicle so I'm still confused uh as to why this is the change MPD is asking us to make um so the council is going to act here out of necessity but I don't believe that the examples MPD provided to support their requests um meet the actual requests and I I want to make sure we are examining that over the summer so that we're not just doing something and not just reacting but doing the right thing and again not swinging the pendulum so far that we create a different problem or set of problems so I want to thank council member Pinto for her hard uh work on this bill and I look forward to working with her and other members of the council over the summer to make sure as we look at permanent legislation we are doing the right thing thank you chairman thank you councilmember councilmember Allen thank you Mr chairman um as we all know last year the Judiciary Committee moved through a comprehensive police reform uh legislation and as we've already discussed here from councilor Lewis George one piece of that bill uh she helped author and it codified npd's already strong internal policy on police Pursuits speaking generally I think we all agree Pursuit should be limited in urban settings because of the risk to the officers to bystanders to all involved we have Alternatives and we should use those when appropriate that said it's kind of a risk versus risk situation and calculation will the pursuit endanger the officer or the public will failing to do so do the same there's a calculation our officers have to make to protect the public and it's a difficult one we don't want to minimize that that said there are clearly certain serious situations where MPD should be able to pursue um MPD as we've talked about has now raised a new internal interpretation concerned with the law um I think many of us uh have trouble and think it's a little bit dubious of that interpretation um and not necessarily supported by the language of the law is one of my colleagues has already said that said in an effort of trying to make sure that we are working to achieve this the same goals uh I appreciate where we have landed on this I want to thank councilor Pinto um and as well as the technical amendment that she either I can't remember if you already added it or you're about to add it once it gets the emergency but also keeping our overall important restrictions on chases I want to thank councilor Pinto uh for accepting the clarifying language as we worked with MPD I want to thank Chief Benedict and his team for working out uh that language and I think we found a good resolution here and I'll be supporting that so thank you thank you councilmember further on the bill or on the Declaration rather we have the Declaration before us PR 25-33 since Madam Secretary would you call the rule councilmember McDuffie yes councilman McDuffie votes yes chairman mendelsohn yes chairman Mendelson votes yes councilmember yes councilman benedale votes yes councilmember Parker yes councilmember Parker votes yes yes councilmember Pinto votes yes councilmember Robert White yes councilmember Robert whitefields yes councilmember Trey online yes council member Tran white votes yes councilmember Allen yes comes from Allen votes yes councilmember bonds yes councilman yes councilmember Freeman yes councilmember Freeman votes yes councilmember Gray yes that's remember gray votes yes councilmember Henderson yes councilmember Henderson votes yes and councilmember Lewis George yes councilman Lewis George votes yes Mr chairman there are 13 yeses thank you Madam Secretary the declaration has approved unanimously we have the underlying Bill Bill 25-387 comes from repinto uh thank you Mr chairman as I noted I have a small technical Amendment to the emergency act the amendment makes two clarifying technical tweaks to the Bell language first it amends section 128 a2a to refer to quote fleeing suspect or suspects rather than just fleeting suspect individual uh this change will confirm that language with the new language at paragraph 2B also refers to both suspect or suspects that's just important to be consistent throughout it so it doesn't look like an intentional uh Omission second the amendment reinserts the word and at the end of subsection A to B which was erroneously left out of the version of the bill filed yesterday without adding an and here it is not clearly it's not clear whether each element of the list of requirements an officer is dissatisfied before engaging in a Pursuit must be met or just one that is whether the three elements in the list are broken up by an or or an and um and I believe is everyone's intention to have this be an and since it's clear buys that language I move the amendments uh thank you councilmember if there's no objection the amendment will be accepted not hearing any objection the amendment is accepted uh we have the bill as amended is there discussion not hearing any discussion uh the vote will be on Bill 25-387 as amended all those in favor say aye aye opposed are the odds have it unanimously the next measure is PR 25-335 vulnerable youth guardianship protection emergency declaration resolution of 2023. it councilmember Pinto thank you I'd like to defer to council member Nadeau to speak first as this is her legislation thank you so much councilmember Pinto for agreeing to move this emergency legislation while the permanent bill that I introduced along with you council members Alan Robert white gray and bonds is moved through your committee I'm very glad we're moving this now which will be life-changing for a number of Youth in the district turning 18 for most young people means Newfound Freedom being able to vote graduating high school and starting their adult lives for some 17 year olds living in the District of Columbia turning 18 means the opposite they'll be prevented from accessing Federal services like applying for financial aid to pursue higher education and will be prohibited from working in some instances in the worst case scenario they might even be deported to a country they once escaped in search of safety this legislation changes that it would rectify the discrepancy between Federal and District law that deprives vulnerable immigrant youth from Gaining permanent status and the humanitarian protections that Congress intended for them it would ensure that immigrant youth can access special Federal immigration status and pursue education work in fulfilling lives like other youth in the district this is very much aligned with the city's commitment to welcoming immigrants to live here in safety and with dignity but this is as much or more so about how we treat our young people about the welfare of the children and young adults in our care something that has been a core priority for me since my earliest days as council member I look forward to working with you councilmember Pinto on the permanent bill in the fall thank you thank you councilmember we have the resolution before us further discussion councilmember Pinto thank you Mr chairman and thank you so much to council and I'm American adult for your leadership in introducing the permanent bill that we had a hearing on several weeks ago on the Judiciary Committee that I found to be very moving um and was persuaded that we have to act with urgency now and cannot wait um to pass the permanent bill because this legislation addresses a very urgent problem that there is currently an inconsistency between district and federal law that undercuts critical support to Immigrant youth who've suffered from abuse abandonment or neglect it's emergency Bill creates a legal class of vulnerable youth for unmarried non-citizens that are at least 18 but younger than 21 and authorizes Supreme Superior Court judges to appoint Guardians for these Youth and make other determinations that would allow these youth to apply for special immigrant juvenile status and special Federal humanitarian Visa covering abuse neglected or abandoned immigrant youth under age 21. those who are granted SIDS are authorized to work maintain a social security number receive assistance for housing and education and eventually apply for lawful permanent residency this is necessary because currently the Superior Court lacks authority over unmarried non-citizens for at least 18 but younger than 21. the court thus lacks a legal mechanism to appoint Guardians for these youth as contemplated by federal law and to issue the orders necessary to allow a number of eligible youth to apply for sage even though Federal research petitioners are authorized to make these petitions until the age of 21. immigrant are youth without the critical supports of guardianship are sent especially vulnerable to abuses such as human trafficking and housing and security it is federally estimated that more than one-third of unaccompanied immigrant youth coming to the United States have already reached 17 years of age absent Council action a class of vulnerable District immigrant youth will be unable to seek legal relief afforded to them by federal law and will be unable to seek the care and support of a guardianship appointment while living in the district although the committee of the Judiciary and Public Safety is actively considering this language a permanent legislation these immigrant youth cannot wait a half a year or longer for that to become law Advocates have testified that they turn away several youth each month because of the ongoing misalignment in District and federal law and that even eligible youth close to the cutoff age of 18 find it difficult to obtain legal representation for a speedy filing us it's essential we act now although these emergency measures take effect as of September 1 2023 to ensure that the court has sufficient time to prepare for the anticipated influx of new cases that may arise as a result of this I move the emergency declaration I thank you councilmember further discussion uh the vote will be on PR 25-265 Madam Secretary would you call the roll chairman mendelsohn yes chairman Mendelson votes yes councilman down yes that's where I'm going to do votes yes councilmember Parker yes councilman Parker votes yes councilmember Pinto yes councilmember Pinto valencias councilmember Robert White yes councilmember Roberts yes councilman betrayal right yes councilmember Treyon white votes yes councilmember Allen yes comes from the Allen votes yes councilmember bonds yes councilmember bonds votes yes councilmember Freeman yes councilman Freeman votes yes councilmember Gray councilmember Gray councilmember Henderson yes councilmember Henderson votes Yes councilmember Lewis George yes because remember Lewis George votes yes councilmember McDuffie yes councilmember McDuffie votes yes councilmember Gray councilmember gray is absent Mr chairman there are 12 yeses and one absent I thank you Madam Secretary the declaration has approved unanimously we have the underlying Bill Bill 25-385 councilmember Pinto I move the emergency Act the bill is before us is there discussion uh by a Voice vote on Bill 25-385 all those in favor say aye aye aye opposed are there any opposed I don't see or hear any no votes you guys have it unanimously uh the next measure is PR 25-319 Public Health Emergency credit alert emergency declaration resolution of 2023 comes from Robert White thank you Mr chairman on January 18 2022 the council unanimously approved b24-606 the public health emergency credit alert emergency Amendment Act of 2022. the ACT became law on February 3rd and expired on May 4th on February 1st the council unanimously approved b-24-607 the public health emergency credit alert temporary Amendment Act of 2022. the ACT became law on April 22nd and expired on November 19 2022 the council then unanimously approved a second round of emergency and temporary legislation with b24-1003 the public health emergency credit alert extension emergency Amendment Act of 2022 enacted on October 31st 2022 and b-24-104 the public health emergency credit alert extension temporary emergency Act of 2022 enacted on March 10th of 2023. Nintendo the temporary measure currently in effect will expire on October 6 2023 the permanent Bill the public health emergency credit alert Amendment Act of 2023 b25-118 was introduced on February 2nd 2023 and is pending before the committee of the whole a hearing was held in Council period 24 on an identical measure on November 18 2022 emergency and temporary measures are necessary now to prevent a gap in the law as Council considers permanent legislation they are identical to the measures Council passed previously and extend protections to the council created during the public health emergency to allow District residents to include a statement with their credit reports that indicate they were financially impacted by the covid-19 pandemic we all know how important a credit score is to a person's economic well-being and how long the negative information remains on a person's credit report so in the interest of time and because the council has passed the measure unanimously previously I won't reiterate points I've made about these measures in the past with that I move Public Health Emergency credit alert emergency declaration resolution of 2023 thank you Mr chairman thank you councilmember is there a discussion on the Declaration uh the vote will be on pier 25-319 Madam Secretary would you call the rule that's one minute Joe yes councilman Joe votes yes councilmember Parker yes councilmember Parker votes yes councilmember Pinto yes house remember Pinto votes yes councilmember Robert White yes councilmember Robert White votes yes councilmember Treyon White yes councilman patreon my bills yes councilmember Allen yes customer Allen votes yes councilmember bonds yes councilmember Barnes votes yes councilmember Newman Council Robert Freeman councilmember Freeman votes yes that was Robert Gray Transformer Gray councilmember Henderson yes councilmember Henderson votes yes councilman Brothers George Yes councilmember Lewis George votes yes councilman McDuffie yes councilmember McDuffie votes yes chairman Middleton yes chairman Middleton votes yes councilmember Gray I think we have some technical difficulties Mr chairman there are 12 yeses and one absent thank you Madam Secretary the declaration has approved unanimously uh we have the underlying Bill Bill 25-357 council member White discussion by a Voice vote on Bill 25-357 all those in favor say aye aye aye are there any opposed the eyes have it unanimously the next measures pr25-340 automated traffic enforcement worksheet public accessibility emergency declaration resolution of 2023 councilmember Henderson thank you Mr chairman I introduced this measure to address an important information Gap that impacts public perceptions and Trust in the automated traffic enforcement systems or the ate program here in the district in recent years traffic enforcement by police officers has declined so ATA systems collect most of the information available to the district regarding where driver Speed Run red lights or run stop signs atad systems are not distributed equally across the city they are currently clustered in communities that have Highway like roads the majority of which are located in Wards five seven and eight the design of these roadways emphasize moving cars through communities easily which inherently removes impediments to speeding leading to higher rates of unsafe driving and more fatalities in 2020 and 2021 just under half of all traffic fatalities in the district occurred in board 7 and 8. ate systems placement involves a meticulous analysis from DDOT following Community requests and PD input and information contained in worksheets comprehensively um demonstrating that preventative measures that change demonstrating the need for preventative measures that can change driver's behaviors on District roads this measure would have required the Department of Transportation to make available on its website copies of all completed ate assessment worksheets for the public to access and view the council allocated funding in fiscal years 23 and 24 to expand the ate program throughout the city we now have Congress attempting to eliminate the program altogether and yet to date the only information that DDOT provides the public with regard to location selection is quote camera types and locations are selected after a safety analysis using crash traffic volumetric and speed data and location type not joking that's all they have in a report this information is not sufficient and undermines the value of ate as a tool on traffic safety it is crucial that the public understands the assessment process that proceeds in ate camera's installation unfortunately DDOT raised several concerns about this legislation I don't buy all of their objections but we'll summarize for the record DDOT was concerned that making the assessment sheets public will generate more questions than they answer I have read the assessment sheets myself with little background context and found them very easy to read so I have no reason to believe that the public would encounter any more difficulty than I did DDOT also said that the bill would quote lead to a substantial increase in foia's questioning of ddot's determination and requests for more information and details for each and every location dot dot dot we cannot absorb the cost of this request and they continue on by saying quote we estimate that we would need several ftes though we cannot provide a specific number at this time in quote I spoke with the director yesterday and I agreed to withdraw this measure based on his commitment that DDOT would put together and abbreviated version of the worksheets that can be shared with the public so we will be continuing to work on this I'm gonna stop there um and just say for now I moved to withdraw this measure foreign thank you councilmember uh so the measure is withdrawn the next measure is PR 25-331 school student vaccination emergency declaration resolution of 2023. councilmember Henderson do you want to take this star can Mr chairman um and December of 2021 the council passed the coronavirus immunization of schools students act um when that happened the district was in the midst of an unprecedented surge of covid-19 cases at the time the decision to require students to be vaccinated against covid-19 as a condition of enrollment was the best policy Choice available to the council when it came time for the law to be enforced at the start of school year 23 excuse me 22-23 it was clear that there were newer marriage challenges and enforcing its implementation on October 11 2022 the committee of the whole held a Roundtable on the implementation of no shots in her school at the round table the committee learned that while conversations with parents of non-compliant students led to LED School leaders to expect that most students would be up to date on their vaccinations they highlighted ongoing problems with aligning the three separate databases used to track students vaccination statuses and issues families based And Timely fulfilling the full vaccination doses within the district's deadline all agree that ultimate policy goal for students was being up to date on their routine pediatric vaccines we're talking polio measles mumps for Bella chickenpox Etc and that was a attainable goal but there was Express reservations about the likelihood that families would equally comply with the covid-19 vaccine requirement in response to the learning about the challenges on October 27th 2022 the council introduced um temporary legislation to put push back the covid-19 vaccine requirement to school year 23-24 this current temporary legislation is set to expire on October 6 2023 and therefore it would mean that students would have to receive the covid-19 vaccination by the start of school year 23 24 or ex or face exclusion from school currently no state has a mandated covid-19 vaccine requirement to return to school additionally given the end of the public health emergency it is necessary to implement this legislation and clarify the process for schools and students prior to the beginning of the school year the committee of the whole already held a hearing on the permanent legislation for this however it would not be effective before the start of school year 23-24 so we are moving this emergency today thank you Mr chairman uh thank you councilmember and I will add since I'm a co-introducer on this the committee of the whole is taking this up on a permanent basis first thing in uh the fall possibly the September 19th meeting um it's clear that where we are today with the um coronavirus is different than where we were when we first adopted this mandate in the fall of 2021 when Delta was surging the Delta variant was surging uh we've had a couple of hearings maybe more than two with regard to vaccination as well as with regard to this legislation and so this is uh the right thing for us to do at this time support the Declaration urge other members too Is there further discussion the vote will be on PR 25-331 um secretary would you call the roll that's remember Parker yes councilmember Parker votes yes councilmember Pinto yes councilmember Pinto votes yes councilmember Robert White yes councilmember Robert White votes yes councilmember uh president councilmember Tran white will be recorded as present because remember Allen yes council member Allen votes yes councilmember bonds yes councilmember bonds votes yes councilman perfuman yes councilmember Freeman votes yes councilmember Gray councilmember Henderson yes councilman Henderson votes Yes councilmember Lewis George comes from Louis George McDuffie yes councilmember McDuffie votes yes chairman Mendelson yes chairman Mendelson votes yes yes councilmember Gray councilmember Lewis George Mr chairman there are 10 yeses one present and two absents Madam Secretary would you ask councilmember Lewis George for her vote sure councilmember Lewis George yes councilman Lewis George who votes yes Mr chairman there 11 yeses on present and one absent uh thank you the declaration has approved unanimously we have the underlying Bill councilmember Henderson don't move Mr chairman is there discussion the vote will be on Bill 25-377 all those in favor say aye aye aye Jim or call me as well in prison uh the bill is approved unanimously with council member trayon White marked as president the next measure is PR 25-342 Middle School career exploration pilot emergency declaration resolution of 2023 councilmember Henderson thank you Mr chairman this bill will establish a middle school career pilot or a career exploration pilot that would provide occupational skills academic enrichment life skills career exploration work Readiness and Youth Development trainings for youth between the ages of 9 to 13 years old I introduced this permanent version in June um in June of this year the Department of Employment Services currently offers a middle school exploration program to middle schoolers and grades six through eight but the program has currently instituted only provide only has three providers and a total of twenty of 225 spots um and the participants are neither compensated nor incentivized given that there are approximately 17 000 middle school students across the District of Columbia um in District Public Schools an expanded pilot program is necessary to assess the impact of the current program and the demand for a potential year-round expansion Middle School is a crucial time for children's exploration of an exposure to opportunities in their broader community and when it is youth it is when youth typically develop skills that they begin to eventually use to earn money it's also important that youth in this age group have a broad array of Hands-On experiences and opportunities to develop new skills during the summer and Beyond because Middle School youth or in this age group because I think there are some nine-year-olds who are still in elementary school cannot receive wages due to labor laws one of the provision of this bill would allow does to provide an incentive to increase participation for this age group I'm moving this on emergency today with a retroactive date of June 1st at the request of the department in order for them to fully implement this pilot program this summer this legislation will lay the foundation for opportunities necessary to create a year round program and help district youth here in the district thank you Mr chairman I urge my colleagues to support thank you councilmember Henderson we have the Declaration before us is there discussion uh we'll have a roll call but on the Declaration PR 25-342 Madam Secretary yes councilmember pencil votes yes councilmember Robert White yes councilmember Robert White votes yes councilmember Tran like yes council member Tran white votes yes councilmember Allen those are valid yes councilman votes yes councilmember bonds yes that's remember bonds votes yes yes councilmember Freeman votes yes councilmember Gray councilmember Henderson yes councilmember Henderson votes yes comes from blooms George Yes councilmember Lewis George votes yes councilmember McDuffie yes that's where I'm living Duffy votes yes chairman mendelsohn yes chairman Mendelson votes yes councilmember yes councilman Bernardo votes yes councilmember Parker yes councilmember Parker votes yes and councilmember gray is absence Mr chairman there are 12 yeses and one absent thank you Madam Secretary the declaration has approved unanimously you have the underlying Bill Bill 25-397. councilmember Henderson so move Mr chairman discussion uh by Voice vote on Bill 25-397 all those in favor say aye aye aye are there any no votes I don't hear or see any no votes the bills approved unanimously the next measure is pr25-333 sexual harassment investigation review emergency declaration resolution of 2023 councilmember in the DOE thank you chairman earlier this month I introduced permanent legislation along with nine colleagues aimed at addressing how sexual harassment allegations against top-level executive branch employees are handled with the goal of updating procedures to be more in line with council's new policies this emergency measure today will more immediately require the Inspector General to review investigations the mayor's office of legal counsel conducted regarding the mayor's former Chief of Staff and deputy mayor for planning and economic development credible accusations of harassment against someone many agreed was one of the most powerful people in D.C government makes it abundantly clear that investigations need to be conducted in an independent manner we have a responsibility to support victims protect workers and restore public trust there are widespread concerns about how the investigation of the complaints against the mayor's former Chief of Staff and deputy mayor for planning and economic development were handled I want to acknowledge The Bravery of the women that have come forward and how difficult it must have been to share their experiences we must ensure that their case was handled properly we have a responsibility to them and all 36 000 District government workers this legislation would require the Inspector General to hire independent council with expertise in such cases to review the report issued by the mayor's office of legal counsel to determine if the methodology and conclusions it drew were Justified within a 90-day time frame the independent Council would also review new formal or informal complaints that may arise from former or current employees as part of their investigation the legislation also empowers the oig to investigate other matters that were outside the scope of the mulk's investigation including hiring and promotion practices and workplace culture the mayor has already asked that the IG looked into some of these issues and this legislation in fact supports that request acknowledging the mayor may only make requests of the IG but Council action can also make this request a reality victims employees and the public need to be able to trust the process and that cannot happen if the government agencies are investigating them and their bosses without that trust employees might hesitate to come forward whether out of fear for their jobs or fear their allegations will not be taken seriously or handled appropriately that deprives them of Justice thank you and with that I move the deck and ask for my colleague's support thank you councilmember is there discussion councilmember Parker um I am happy to support this bill today um and I'm proud that the council is taking action to demonstrate how seriously we take sexual harassment this is not just a matter of securing Justice for the women who have made allegations against one of the district's highest ranking government officials uh but also about making clear that this investigation and future investigations are thorough and fair in order to foster a culture of safety for others that may choose to bring similar claims there is no price tag that is too steep for securing Justice in these kinds of instances of harm and I just want to end by applauding my colleague councilmember Nadeau for pushing this effort forward and I think today we will send a very strong message as a council that we as a body take sexual harassment very seriously thank you councilmember councilmember Lewis George uh thank you chairman uh workplace harassment is devastating and I want to thank my colleague councilmember doe for taking the lead on this uh important legislation I also want to commend uh the victims uh for their bravery and coming forward I think later on we'll have a lot of conversations about centering victims and we have to Center victims in all instances especially in her workplace harassment cases to have your career and livelihood threatened and to coerce and Silent survivors is not something we should accept this is the worst kind of use of power and no one should be above being accountable we need District employees to feel safe in their jobs and this bill does just that 36 000 District employees are counting on us we need people to work with us and we need to make sure that government is a safe place to work and we need to make sure as we grapple with vacancies across District agencies where we need critical workers that this is a place that is appealing as a welcoming place that they will be protected and so uh I uh will be supporting this measure today uh and and look forward to us all working together thank you thank you councilmember further discussion uh councilmanito I have a couple of questions the um uh yesterday I was under the impression that there might be a fiscal impact problem could you just address that I think it's been resolved thank you yes um I circulated Amendment earlier today that just clarifies the scope of the work would meet um the available funds the IG has which is estimated at 450 000 so that allowed us to have a clean fist okay so with an amendment that was circulated I think it was circulated right before noon um the physical impact is not an issue that's correct my other question is if you could say for the record how you see this interplaying with the two committees that we'll be working on this issue absolutely I think there's an all of the above approach here certainly council members bonds and McDuffie have hunt their work cut out for them this Summer um on the the jurisdiction of their committees and I really truly look forward to supporting their efforts this summer um and in the meantime the oig has a role to play here both in looking back at what the Mulk has done but in addressing any additional complaints that come up against this individual I think the urgency here is making sure that any additional complaints don't keep going to the Mulk which I think is undermining the transparency and validity of the process um that's stuff that we we can't um do here necessarily um and I'm really thrilled that my colleagues will have the opportunity to take up the pieces under their jurisdiction as well so we can um have that all of the above approach thank you I thank you there's no further discussion we have the Declaration before us PR 25-33 Madam Secretary would you call the roller councilmember Robert White yes council member Robert Wayne votes yes councilmember Tran right yes councilman betray on my votes yes councilmember Allen yes councilmember Allen votes yes councilmember bonds yes councilmember bonds votes yes councilmember Freeman yes councilmember crewman votes yes councilmember Gray yes councilmember gray votes yes councilmember Henderson yes councilmember Henderson votes Yes councilmember Lewis George yes George votes yes councilmember McDuffie yes councilmember McDuffie votes yes chairman Mendelson yes chairman Mendelson votes yes yes that's what I'm going to do about yes councilmember Parker yes councilman Parker votes yes and council member of pinto yes councilmember Pinto votes yes Mr chairman they're 13 years the Declaration is approved unanimously we have the underlying Bill Bill 25-381 councilmember Nadeau uh yes as I mentioned earlier I do have that Amendment to the underlying bill that was circulated earlier today so I move that now you want to explain it briefly um the amendment the emergency Bill uh it was put together in consultation with the Inspector General in our budget office to ensure that oig can absorb the cost of the bill within their FY 23 budget which was estimated at four hundred and fifty thousand dollars if there's no objection the amendment will be accepted that is to say is there any objection hearing none the amendment is accepted we have the bill as amended before us is there a disc any further discussion uh by a Voice vote all those in favor of Bill 25-381 as amended say aye are there any opposed uh the odds have it unanimously the next measure is PR 25-332 DC water critical infrastructure Freedom of Information clarification emergency decoration resolution of 2023. councilmember Allen Wireless chairman one second thank you Mr chairman uh today I am moving to DC water critical infrastructure Freedom of Information clarification emergency Amendment Act of 2023 along with the DC water critical uh along with emergency Tech current law allows utilities to withhold information about critical infrastructure when responding to foia requests that makes a lot of sense given the security issues that might arise this information were made public for example if you send a request to Pepco asking what part of the grid is most vulnerable to the Cyber attack company does not have to provide that information like other utilities DC water is party to information related to critical infrastructure that should not be widely available to the public upon foia request however because the statute says that this foia exemption only applies to utilities regulated by the Public Service Commission and DC water is not regulated by the Public Service Commission currently DC water is not covered by that exemption without a change to current law DC water could be required to disclose information that could jeopardize the security of the district's Water and Sewer infrastructure resulting in a significant threat to Public Safety to remedy this issue the emergency legislation clarifies that the foia exemption related to information about critical infrastructure applies to DC water in addition to entities regulated by the Public Service Commission thank you Mr chairman with that I move the Declaration thank you councilmember do you is there any discussion regarding the Declaration uh the vote will be on PR 25-332 Madam Secretary would you call the role that's remember Tryon White yes it comes from betray on my quotes yes councilmember Allen yes that's remember Allen votes yes Council on the bonds yes councilmember Barnes votes yes councilmember Freeman yes councilmember Freeman votes yes councilmember Gray yes that's one of the gray votes yes councilmember Henderson yes that's Robert Henderson votes Yes councilmember Lewis George yes house remember he was George votes yes councilmember McDuffie yes councilmember McDuffie votes yes chairman Mendelson yes chairman Mendes yes yes councilmember Parker yes councilmember Parker votes yes councilmember Pinto customer Pinto councilmember Robert White yes councilman Robert White votes yes councilmember Pinto is absent Mr chairman there are 12 yeses and one absent the Declaration is approved unanimously we have the underlying Bill Bill 25-379 comes from Rhode Island so movement chair [Music] I'm sorry I was distracted you said so moved is there discussion absolute Mr chair it was with respect thank you uh sir discussion we have built 25-379 before us by Voice vote all those in favor say aye aye aye opposed of the bills approved unanimously uh the next measure is pr25-325 medical cannabis clarification in non-resident patient access emergency declaration resolution of 2023 councilmember McDuffie thank you Mr chairman this emergency uh has five components to it first at the request of the alcoholic beverage and cannabis Administration it expands non-resident patient access at licensed retailers by making temporary non-resident patient registrations ballot for a period other than 30 days to meet the varying needs of visiting patients second at bronze definition of a social Equity applicant to include arrests and convictions of qualifying family members for cannabis or drug-related offense to remain consistent with the definition of a returning Citizen and it adds siblings and grandparents a list of eligible family members as of today ABCA has received 35 complete medical cannabis facility applications from social Equity applicants for either cultivation Center manufacturer or Courier license these 35 social Equity applications are from returning citizens with even more expected once the final count of applications is known therefore this application around will Mark the most applications that apca has ever received from returning citizens in the history of the program which means that our social Equity definition is working and this also means that applicant's intentional Outreach to returning citizens for the most of this year and their collaboration with the mayor's office on returning citizens Affairs has worked however none of the social Equity applications received as of June 27th of this year are from an eligible family member applicant with a qualifying family member who was incarcerated for cannabis or drug-related defenses the emergency will address that guy third the open application period for cultivation Center manufacturer Courier licenses for non-social Equity applicants begins on August 29th the medical cannabis Amendment Act of 2022 requires with minor exceptions that at least 50 percent of all cultivation Center manufacturer Courier licenses be set aside for social Equity applicants the emergency will clarify that the number of cultivation Center manufacturer Courier licenses available non-social Equity applicants beginning on August 29th is based upon the number of ABC board approved social Equity applications I'm sorry applicants for the opening application period and then June 30th 2023 fourth the emergency will clarify that the five cultivation center registration applicants that scored 150 points or more as a result of the ABC Board open application period that occurred between November 29 2021 and March 28 2022 are automatically eligible to receive a manufacturer license provided they pay the annual fee and register with the ABC Board this will help to shorten timeline necessary for these five cultivation centers to increase the production of and availability of medical cannabis products in the district and finally despite years of effort to attract tested laboratory licenses we currently do not have any Testing Laboratories operating in the district to test medical cannabis products and cultivation centers and manufacturers emergency will incentivize applications for Testing Laboratories by waiving the application fee allowing ABC app Cut to issue conditional licenses a couple more seconds sure not objection conditional licenses to successful tests and laboratory applicants allowing a licensed testing laboratory to test samples of medical cannabis products from qualifying patients and allowing cultivation centers and manufacturers to submit product samples to a testing laboratory for purposes of quality assurance or research and development with that I move the Declaration uh thank you councilmember is there discussion I am co-introducing this so of course I support it if there's not further discussion Madam Secretary would you call the role the voters on PR 25-325 councilmember Allen yes councilmember Allen votes yes councilmember bonds yes councilmember bonds votes yes councilmember Freeman yes council member Truman votes yes councilmember Gray yes councilmember gray votes yes councilmember Henderson yes councilmember Henderson votes Yes councilmember Lewis George Yes councilmember Lewis George votes yes councilmember McDuffie yes councilmember McDuffie votes yes chairman mendelsohn yes chairman mendels and votes yes councilman Bernardo yes that's what we're going to do votes yes councilmember Parker yes councilmember Parker votes yes council member Pinto yes councilmember Pinto votes yes councilmember Robert White yes councilmember Robert White votes yes and council member trian left yes councilmember Tree on white votes yes Mr chairman they have 13 answers thank you Madam Secretary the vote is unanimous on the Declaration it's approved the next uh the uh Bill 25 the underlying Bill Bill 25-367 councilmember McDuffie so move discussion Mr chairman councilmember Henderson thank you Mr chairman um I never want to miss an opportunity to call out Congress for being Hypocrites in terms of how they handle cannabis laws as most folks know the state of Maryland has recreational use that was just approved on July 1st Virginia is moving forward with their recreational use and the district is still being constrained by a rider by a congressman from the state of Maryland in terms of our abilities to move forward as I stated in the breakfast you know we continue to have to do these clarifications and changes in terms of our medical program because we are constrained in terms of what we can do on adult use but also our further constraints from the federal government as they continue to treat cannabis as a scheduled drug and frankly we're never going to have the widespread social Equity that we need in this program until the federal government acts because these businesses right now are still cash only and so it doesn't matter how many changes we do in terms of social Equity you still need a significant amount of capital to come into this Market whether it's cultivation whether it's dispensary and especially in the testing Arena where we know we need more businesses to open up in that area especially as we see in a Skyrocket in terms of synthetic cannabinoids on the market and so I guess this is my piece to say I'm going to support I'm supporting this measure but um I think we all need to do more um and I'm calling on our partners in the region who are moving forward with their full-scale programs to help the District of Columbia here and getting members of Congress to remove the rider that still exists just for the District of Columbia thank you Mr chairman thank you councilmember if you're going to talk about hypocrisy council member I would note that many members of Congress have been criticizing the district with regard to Public Safety and yet the rider that is prohibiting our being able to regulate recreational marijuana The Possession and use of which is legal our inability to regulate it because of congressional interference is directly adversely impacting Public Safety in the District of Columbia we're seeing increasing crime around these establishments that do not have a license to dispense and in fact we don't even know that there is any kind of quality control with regard to what they are dispensing which suggests a public health concern and it is competing against the legitimate medical cannabis organizations which is what this bill is seeking to help but the Congressional right here is hurting but I want to emphasize since the theme Here is hypocrisy that on the one hand let's talk about public safety and the district needs to do better and chairman Comer says crime crisis and on the other hand they uh make it uh they perpetuate a lot of this with their Rider anything further on the Declaration the vote will be on oh no we already did the Declaration uh by a Voice vote I'm Bill 23-3 25 Dash let me start over uh Voice vote on Bill 25-367. all those in favor say aye aye opposed guys have it unanimously speaking of Public Safety uh prioritizing Public Safety emergency declaration resolution of 2023 PR 25-341 councilmember Pinto Mr chairman we have a crisis of violent crime in the district to date this year there have been 127 homicides up nearly 20 percent from this time last year unless things turn around quickly we could have a third straight year with over 200 homicides for the first time in two decades beyond that we've seen more than 500 people shot and 400 separate incidents I hear from residents in all eight Wards every single day that people are fearful and want urgent action to address these challenges clearly we must take bold and decisive action today to make District residents safer today our government leaders are coming together to take immediate action to address our Public Safety emergency and take tangible steps that will make our city safer this summer and this is how I intend to lead the committee on Judiciary and Public Safety collaboratively bringing in many voices and ideas and with deliberate speed to address crises today I am moving the prioritizing Public Safety emergency Amendment Act of 2023 in the associated declaration this bill moves forward many pieces of Mayor Bowser's save for stronger Amendment act as well as my accountability and victims protection Amendment ACT first the bill expands the rebuttable presumption in favor of pre-trial detention for adults who have committed a crime of violence currently the presumption typically applies when an individual committed a violent crime wall armed or if they have multiple previous serious crimes the bill recognizing the disturbing trend of an increasing number of people committing an act of violence as their first offense expands this to cover cases where someone is charged with a crime of violence this change response the serious problem of a revolving door in which far too many people commit serious crimes are arrested for them and then end up right back on the street sometimes hurting other people one of the key values of our justice system is that all innocent all people are innocent until proven guilty and here in the district we have a standard that people are not held pre-trial unless they are Flight Risk or deemed a danger to the community what this legislation does is bring the definition of what constitutes a danger to the community in line with reality that we're seeing on the ground to ensure that judges have the discretion to hold people who otherwise would pose a danger to the community second a big piece of this bill is an expansion of the rebuttable presumption in favor of detaining Youth prior to adjudication amiss let me make two things clear first it is absolutely true that we need to support our kids and the vast majority of them in our city are doing great things often in the face of significant adversity second it is also true that a small number of our kids are engaging in conduct that is incredibly harmful to their peers their families and their Community without objection thank you sir small offenses often escalate to major ones like carjackings and shootings we have a duty to keep our kids and our communities safe we saw 16 kids killed in our city last year and this year we have already lost 12 of our kids and we're just at the beginning of Summer another 70 kids have been shot this year meanwhile we've seen too many terrifying and traumatizing incidents where a young person robs or carjacks someone this bill will move us in the right direction allowing courts the discretion again to hold some of these kids that are engaging in serious crimes like carjacking or attempted homicide even before they pull out a gun today's legislation will create a rebuttable presumption for pre-trial detention for young people who commit crimes like assaults with a knife unarmed carjacking and sexual abuse thanks to the productive conversations that I had with our colleagues and many residents and stakeholders in the collaborative work to address concerns I'm confident that this bill appropriately targets the most serious crimes of violence that we are experiencing right now in our community this bill also does a number of other things to improve Public Safety well I'll briefly delineate it creates a new felony offense of endangerment with a firearm to ensure that people who are endangering our community with guns can be held accountable it clarifies that GPS records from people on pre-trial release can be used in court as evidence of their guilt if they go out and commit another crime while they're on release it gives courts discretion to authorize individuals to be extradited from other jurisdictions if a judge determines there's good cause to do so this addresses the challenge of people committing crimes in DC and then leaving to other states it builds on the excellent private security camera rebate program by lifting the 200 cap on rebates and allowing the mayor to set a higher cap we urge all residents to participate in the camera rebate program it requires the criminal justice coordinating Council to collect and provide more information in the outcomes of programs like diversion it creates a new Standalone felony events of strangulation something 49 states have to ensure accountability for abusers and protect potential victims of domestic violence when we think about increasing case closure rates we need to be empowering our law enforcement partners with tools they need to pursue these cases and I believe the provisions we are moving today will help do just that I want to express my deep appreciation to all of our colleagues for working with me over the past several days and weeks and talking through many of these complex issues and making improvements to the bill we must continue to build on the legislation that we passed today to better invest in preventative tools and interrupt cycles of violence in our city and I do plan to work with all of you all of my colleagues and many stakeholders in the public residents the mayor on our permanent Public Safety Omnibus Bill that seeks to address many of the areas that we know will make a meaningful and sustainable Improvement in public safety you are all on notice I want to work with you on this permanent Bill however this legislation today is a major step forward in our efforts to create a safer DC for all residents and it cannot wait I want to say to families businesses workers of the district we hear you and we know we need to do more to help keep you safe I want to also congratulate mayor Bowser and thank her and her team on her partnership for this legislation and again my colleagues for their collaboration and ideas and strengthening the provisions of this bill and I want to thank the over 150 public Witnesses and government Witnesses who testified at the hearing we held two weeks ago and shared practical constructive ways to strengthen this legislation and to ensure we follow through on that promise I urge all of my colleagues to support this bill today I move the emergency declaration uh thank you councilmember Pinto we have the Declaration before us I have a quick question you mentioned two new Criminal offenses endangerment and strangulation were these in the revised criminal code Act thank you for your question Mr chairman yes both of these two fences uh were included in the revised criminal code act that we as a body past and unfortunately um Congress taught Congress overruled our ability to keep our residents safe so we are pleased to put them back in and Hope that Congress will allow us to do our job and keep District residency thank you we have the Declaration before us is there discussion on the Declaration uh by a roll call vote on the Declaration that's PR 25-341 Madam Secretary council member bonds yes councilmember bonsfields yes councilmember Freeman yes council member Truman votes yes councilmember gray yes councilmember gray votes yes councilmember Henderson yes councilmember Henderson votes yes comes from Belize George no house remember Lewis George votes no councilmember McDuffie yes councilmember McDuffie votes yes chairman Mendelson yes chairman mendels and votes yes councilmember Nadeau yes councilmember Joe votes yes councilman Parker yes councilwormer Parker votes yes councilmember Pinto yes councilmember Robert White yes councilmember Robert White votes yes councilmember Tran white yes councilmember Tree on white votes yes councilmember Allen yes councilmember Allen votes yes Mr chairman there 12 yeses and one no uh thank you Madam Secretary the Declaration is approved we have the underlying Bill Bill 25-395 council member Pinto of the emergency Act is there discussion chairman councilmember Treon white um I want to thank you uh councilman pinso um for just having some open dialogue about Public Safety in the district um since I've been on the council I've been trying to Ring the Alarm trying to figure out how to support uh councilman mcduffie's near act to create a comprehensive approach to addressing crime to a public health approach um it's just recent that we are putting some teeth in the game in the last three to four years um and I did get a chance to read the safer stronger Amendment accent over by the mayor um we I live in a war we have faced with tremendous challenges with violent crimes in DC I'm glad that the provision for our uh was taken out of this particular bill because I think that we while we are talking about um holding individuals accountable we also must have a balanced approach for those who have spent over a decade or two or three uh trying to come home and get back into their community so I want to thank you for that um councilman Pinto and I did want to uh state that we have to have a holistic approach and I know this is just one of many but I always uh encourage and attend the graduations of the pathways program even I just went to the Peace Academy program and for those that don't know we just launched uh and dys the Oasis program designed to bring in Youth and Young adults in the district who have not been arrested but who are what we call not at risk but at potential um to be engaged into our program because you know what they say which is true a lot of times my child can't get help unless he or she gets in trouble and so this new Oasis program is designed to do just that which is a cohort of 10 boys and 10 girls I know we've done it at Kramer so far and one other middle school which I don't have over the top of my head um but I believe that oh Kelly Miller um we have to be proactive on the front end and on the back end and I believe that mass incarceration is not the end-all solution addressing crime and in fact it has crippled the black community in a lot of regards throughout the nation um but we also have to be proactive about giving uh youth uh resources now young adults and adults resources and opportunities as well um and I look forward to supporting council member Pinto on the permanent bill I have some suggestions in which we agreed to talk about um which from a lot of the returning citizens who have formed a coalition to add value to this discussion um so I want to thank you councilmember pinto and other members in a step um to addressing some of the crime in our community but also uh being proactive about uh wraparound services and public health approaches uh for our residents thank you thank you councilmember white councilmember Robert White uh thank you Mr chairman I want to speak in support of this bill and also offer an amendment um very recently a man who came to our country after helping our Armed Forces overseas As an interpreter uh he jumped through incredible Hoops to bring his family to his country for their safety uh when they finally got here uh with their kids they were in a different part of the country that the father thought was too dangerous uh for his family so they moved to our area for this man to be killed in Cold Blood and his children to no longer have a father two weeks ago um pastor of my church was out of town the priest who was supposed to fill in an elderly man couldn't make it because he was beaten over his head and was in the hospital getting stitches and I've lost family members to violence here in this city and I think we have to be careful to Center ourselves with what is happening in our city and the fact that it is not getting better it is getting worse and we have to do something now doing something and doing the right thing are not always the same so we have to be conscious that we don't do anything uh in response or reaction to the public safety issue we're seeing that causes a public safety problem three five ten years down the road we have to have learned that lesson from the 80s and 90s so as we work on a permanent bill and we also have to remember how we got here the policies discrimination slavery redlining economic injustice Injustice in our court systems that have caused the breeding ground for the type of violence that we're seeing now and we cannot over punish or put on the backs of the people who were by by acts of Congress and acts of State legislatures put into neighborhoods where this violence has erupted we have to make sure we don't add to that calculation we cannot lose sight of how we got here and so as we address the issue of Public Safety we have an obligation to address the root causes as well uh as I mentioned that when I started we have to act because the summer is a violent time in our city and things are get getting bad and while I'm not in love with every aspect of this bill sometimes that is the case here but I don't think we have a choice in whether or not we're going to act today and I don't think we can wait for the perfect thing I do want to offer an amendment and I'm moving Amendment b25-395. the prioritizing Public Safety emergency Amendment Act of 2023 which I hope will be accepted as friendly we know that most Firearms are not produced in the District of Columbia they are coming from somewhere else guns that are being used to kill people on our streets are coming into the district I want us to have more information on the manufacturers that are making these Firearms uh one more minute Mr chairman without objection uh the firearm models the states of origin the last known point of sale transfer or theft of these firearms because with that information or we can start to provide valuable uh analysis for gun purchasing patterns types of guns points of sale types of transactions that are leading to gun trafficking in our city with that information if we can start to stem the flow of guns into our city I think that will be one of the most impactful way to reduce the number of guns and therefore reduce uh the amount of violent crimes and killings in our city so the amendment that I'm offering uh will require the mayor to submit a report by January first to uh the council that includes the total number of firearms and ghost guns recovered in the district the location where the Firearms were recovered the number of firearms recovered disaggregated by manufacturer model state or country of origin and last known point of sale transfer or theft um I've worked with the Metropolitan Police Department on this amendment to get them comfortable with this amendment and I hope that it will be accepted as friendly thank you chairman Cameron I have a question um when you we have the amendment before us uh councilmember bonds wants to speak to the amendment yes um thank you chairman and to um colleague uh Robert White um in your Amendment you are indicating that the report would include an analysis of purchase patterns um with the available information can you give me some idea what that really means because usually the purchases from the trunk of a vehicle or something like that at least that's what we've been told in the past and I'm curious as to what your intentions are yeah excellent question uh councilmember bonds before a firearm gets to the trunk of a vehicle it is comes from somewhere a manufacturer a gun show a a store and so if we start to uh hone in on the point of origin then I think we can better set our sights on where we can stem the flow certainly there's still challenges after we get this information but but if we can better focus our resources and attention I think we can stem the flow thank you very much further on the amendment councilmember Pinto thank you very much councilmember white for this idea and I think as we think about urgent actions that we can take today around identifying where these weapons are coming in from I'm hoping this will be able to make a difference and I will accept your Amendment as friendly which is to see if there's no objection but let's see is there any further discussion on the amendment right if there's no objection the amendment will be accepted I'm not hearing any objection the amendment is accepted I have a lineup and it's not in any particular order I'll tell you what the lineup is on next would be council member Parker then councilmember Allen who I believe has an amendment councilman McDuffie councilmember Lewis George I believe has an amendment and councilmember Henderson uh and that doesn't mean anybody else can't join in until there's emotionally closed debate uh councilmember Parker you are next I want to thank councilmember Pinto for introducing today's legislation and working with all of us uh to help get it in a right or better place I want to specifically thank councilmember Pinto for working with me to address uh the aspects of the pre-trial detention for juvenile uh defendants and as she alluded to removing certain aspects related to Ira and other things that were proposed in the mayor's feel uh that deserve more investigation District residents are tired of violence in our communities and so am I every homicide is a crisis every carjacking is a crisis every weapon in the hands of a teenager is a crisis from the start of my time in office Public Safety has been a priority at the same time I want to be very clear that I do not subscribe to the belief that the way to make our community safer is to imprison more black men and throw away the keys I do not support mandatory minimums I do not support proposals to deprive individuals of Second Chance chances I do not support the pre-trial Detention of juveniles or adults who do not pose a risk to our community much of this emergency legislation is narrow and limited among other things this bill will encourage more residents to take advantage of the city's popular camera rebate program this bill will make it easier to hold accountable individuals who endanger residents by discharging Firearms this bill will make it easier to hold accountable individuals who engage in domestic violence but the truth is that we cannot legislate accountability For Those who commit violent crimes the actual work of delivering accountability as a function of the mayor and the law enforcement agencies she oversees it is also a function of the United States attorney's office and the Attorney General of the District of Columbia it is critical that these components of our government act with the same urgency the council has and will continue to show on Public Safety to make our community safer we need better coordination between MPD and the U.S attorney's Office swifter and more certain consequences for violent our vendors a more robust violence prevention strategy that Embraces transparency and accountability and a police department that Embraces accountability with its own within its own ranks and deploys more resources to communities that experience the most violence finally I am mindful that even the most robust administration of our criminal laws has its limits if we are truly going to build healthy and safe communities we all crave we need to think more critically about the chain of events that leads to an individual picking up a gun or engaging in a violent act in the first place far too many folks in the city are never given a first chance to thrive they are only given a second chance once they've done their time so while I support this bill today I do not consider it the beginning or the end of this body's work to advance Public Safety I look forward to robust oversight of the agencies responsible for enforcing our laws I look forward to continued conversations about reinforcing MPD or refocusing MPD rather on its core crime finding responsibilities where are embracing civilian public safety rules where they make sense and I look forward to the heart and important work of interrupting cycles of exclusion under investment and disillusionment that plagues District communities where violence is particularly prevalent thank you Mr chairman if thank you council member councilmember Allen thank you very much uh Mr chairman um I have amendments in just a moment but I want to first begin by thanking councilor Pinto for her leadership and also acknowledged her and her team's work over the weekend over the last several days working with me and my staff and I know with everybody on this dice so I said um when the two permanent bills that served as the basis for this emergency were introduced we need to be open to every single idea but we also need to follow a both and approach to reducing violent crime meaning that we have to both have strategies to prevent crime and strategies to respond to crime and violence when it happens we also know what works coordinated focused law enforcement and non-law enforcement interventions with a relatively known number of people who commit most gun crime for those watching today we have a literal list of those people we can help identify who they are so our response is legislative or operational need to focus on that population sometimes called hot people as well as the hot places where most of our gun violence takes place the public is looking for Solutions as are we on this Council and the entire government has a responsibility to deliver on those solutions to make immediate and I do mean immediate changes I'm concerned broadly that often our default response to gun violence is generally to respond after the harm has taken place after someone pulls the trigger and of course we need strong gun laws and we have some of the strongest in the country but we can't pretend that just along the books is going to change anything no one's pulling out the criminal code and weighing up 180 day versus a 270-day sentence is worth it if they're even thinking before they act they're likely making a bigger Gamble am I going to get caught and if I am caught is the government going to charge me if an arrest is never made or the crime is never charged there is no accountability and we need to go after higher risk people committing gun violence and if we only come to the table with one type of intervention it doesn't work the evidence bears that out when we do respond to Solutions we know that we can change Behavior otherwise we get a revolving door and that's not safety I want to thank councilor Pinto for accepting language I offered over the weekend to ensure the juvenile pre-trial hold provision is tailored to our most serious violent crimes of course under our current law judgment considered detention in every case but we're talking about a legal presumption in favor of detention here but that presumption should extend everything so I appreciate the work and the compromise there we have serious gaps that we need to fill and despite ongoing challenges this bill is going to offer concrete improvements for Public Safety in the district and that's why I am supporting and voting in support of this today I appreciate councilor pinto and her team's hard work on this legislation there are other incredibly real operational legislative challenges today that are stopping our city from reducing gun crime but today's action is the right one to take and when we do put forward criminal solutions they need to be paired with the types of both and responses so I want to thank all my colleagues and Mr chairman if I can now move amendment number one I get a nod on the head so okay all right so amendment number one um Mr chairman yourself if I can have an extra minute or two without objection um Mr chairman you counselor pinto and myself met after the breakfast meeting I think we've come to a good compromise on the Amendments that I had circulated this morning so just for all my colleagues just to help make sure I know I share what I'm doing procedurally here uh we're going to combine both amendments that I'd circulated this morning but drop some of the provisions in the Second Amendment and then I will after that make sure I withdraw what was left so step by step I'm moving first amendment number one so that's before us then I'm moving a second degree Amendment so that which was the reflective of our conversation um that includes several Provisions from amendment number two which I had circulated this morning after that which I hope is accepted as friendly I'll make sure I withdraw amendment number two so we've Consolidated our compromise Provisions so I think we're on the same page so first uh council members Allen I I believe your staff circulated at 3 29 PM a revised amendment number one practically but I from a procedural standpoint I'm told that it's a second level Amendment so I just want to make sure I'm procedurally describing it correctly but practically it is a Revival only second level if I can count to two so um members need to know what they're working off of the 329. the 3 29 PM circulation okay come on thank you so that is the second level amendment to amendment number one um this amendment includes several Common Sense proposals to immediately reduce gun violence and bring coordination Focus to the district's gun violence prevention strategies and initiatives largely drawn from recommendations to improve Public Safety for many years reported by the council and the mayor in recent years so quickly what does it do uh amendment number one speaks to reporting requirements from cjcc in addition it brings coordination to this amendment brings coordination and focus to the district's gun violence reduction strategies having MPD in the deputy major public safety and Justice have focused deterrence by modeling policing Senator on those who are most likely to commit gun violence so this requires MPD to have shooting reviews identify Dynamics potential retaliation with law enforcement other interventions it also requires the deputy mayor to coordinate a bi-monthly coordination meeting uh service shooting review to review each shooting from a services and response perspective and identify and assign agency and Community Partners and Outreach to engage with higher risk individuals it also focuses on enhancing transparency to inform decision making and program operations so it raises awareness of the importance of case closures to gun violence reduction by requiring MPD to publish closure information for all violent crimes by offense and non-fatal shootings and requires a criminal justice according Council to release monthly data on arrests for violent crimes by offense and gun violence and homicide counts and rates lastly it leverages the district's red flag law also known as our extreme risk protection order which is a legal tool passed by the council to remove guns from the hands from those who would do harm to themselves or others Reviving our extreme risk order protection working group the council had created it requires MBD to primarily display information about how to petition for those extreme risk protection orders and it has the office of Attorney General developing and implementing a public awareness campaign to inform residence professionals and District government employees about extreme risk protection reporters taken together these will be making a number of immediate changes to our gun violence reduction strategies to reduce violent crime thank you Mr chairman and based on our conversation I believe those will be accepted as friendly oh thank you councilmember Allen uh discussion on this councilmember Pinto do you want to be recognized first on this I recognize thank you um I want to reiterate one of the things that I said this morning which is I think especially when it comes to Public Safety it's going to be really important moving forward um and I think we have a real opportunity here as a body to work in concert with the executive on a lot of our shared priorities and I think one of the best ways that we can do that is working directly with the executive and with the agencies on trying to get some things implemented before we turn to legislation um with that being said I really appreciate councilmember Allen uh your open-mindedness and how we approach this moving forward and I think that these four items in the amendment um hopefully will make a meaningful difference in public safety um and I will accept them as friendly thank you Chris finally accepted if there's no objection was there additional speakers on this uh yes some summer mcduffin um I wanted to just ask or ask councilman Allen to speak a little bit more to to the new section 8C in your Amendment which I think um is really important to our overall Public Safety strategy but but more specifically on efforts to prevent gun violence I know um and it's been a while since I've participated in these meetings um some years in fact I know that there were efforts between our Public Safety stakeholders uh around the gun stat uh uh effort that MPD and others have led it was hosted at MPD but this uh adds some aspects to that work and I'd love to hear how it it differs from some of the efforts already on the way or ongoing I should say with MPD and other Public Safety stakeholders because um I think this is really interesting I think this is something that you should really try to just speak a little bit more to because I think it should be helpful if implemented in the way that this is designed I appreciate that thank you councilor Duffy um and you'll know certainly from the work on the near act and a lot of other efforts in other cities being able to create a dedicated what is referred to oftentimes as a shooting review that brings together in two different spaces one in a law enforcement space law enforcement uh officers and leaders to come together to review shootings that have taken place to specifically outline um known information and share information around what was source of crime what was the source of that shooting potential conflicts individuals involved and then secondarily because there are going to be conversations where law enforcement is not in the space where other in our non-law enforcement alternatives are also able to come in and help add to how to resolve what that shooting is about also have that type of shooting review that takes place we wanted to be the language that you see in this um where some people talk about a weekly shooting review we wanted to say there should be no less than two per month give a little bit of flexibility to our executive partners that uh that can happen every two weeks to account for some variability that might take place but still be urgent enough that it's taking place on a regular basis and in some what real time thank you councilman Duffy uh further with regard to uh councilman Allen's Amendment councilmember bonds um thank you very much chairman and thank you um to um councilmember Allen for this um addition to the measure that we are all seemingly supporting I I just have to say this is about reporting numbers and it is work with the cjcc I wonder if we had been um on top of this type of occurrence a little earlier maybe last year last year when you chaired the Judiciary Committee if that would have helped to bring down the numbers of incidents that we are faced with here in 2023. I have to wonder that um and but I'm happy that we are looking in this direction finally and so I I thank you very much and um and it has this amendment has been accepted by the chair of Judiciary now and as a member of Judiciary and as a member that served with you and your predecessor I'm very happy that we're going to finally utilize the cjcc data to inform community so that we all are no longer in the dark so I thank you very much and I thank councilmember um Pinto for accepting this amendment thank you chairman anything further on the amendment um all right if there's no objection the amendment uh this is the amendment that councilmember Allen or his staff circulated at 3 29 PM that's diversion there's no objection the amendment is accepted hearing no objection that's accepted uh councilman McDuffie did you want to speak I just briefly Mr chairman there's been a lot said not agree with a many of the comments already shared by my colleagues but I did want to take an opportunity uh just to share my support for this measure and to acknowledge and thank councilmember Pinto as well as the mayor um for for their work on this um you know a lot of the work that happens to get us to this point happens behind the scenes uh you had a hearing that allowed for a lot of people to to testify and provide input to help shape uh what is before us today um and and those some of this stuff plays out also in the media and it tends to you know pit signs against one another I think and I hope that the public will um you know take some comfort in seeing our action here today uh and and the fact that the council acted swiftly to meet uh the sense of urgency that the public has been demanding given that far too many people in our city uh feel unsafe and I I really want to just acknowledge and thank folks for the collaborative effort that has led us to this point we've already had a couple of Amendments have been accepted as friendly uh that I think also speaks to our shared desire to keep the public safe here in the district one man visit us to our city um I agree we whenever I try to have conversations about public safety and violence I like to talk about accountability and opportunity this bill addresses uh accountability and enhances accountability in many respects to make sure we're holding violent offenders accountable when they commit crimes in the District of Columbia uh that we're protecting victims in the product broader public but we also uh have to remember that it's not just to build this effort today it's all the other things that we do to ensure Public Safety to digital Plumbing including uh just one additional minute Mr Jim without objection including um all the things that we do to create opportunity for individuals particularly young folks in the District of Columbia um and that goes to the work that happens beyond the Metropolitan Police Department uh and agencies like Department of Employment Services Department of Parks and Recreation uh to make sure that our young folks have structured activities that young folks who are eligible to work and have opportunities worked in our summer Employment Program our marriage Leadership Institute um and even some of the efforts that I'm seeing uh as recently as the day where the OES is engaged uh organizations to get young folks who are not yet eligible to work in our syap program because they're younger than 14 but they're already being engaged and thinking about the types of training that they'll need to be able to work when they are eligible working on some of you play with programming so I think we have to make sure that we're having uh this conversation in the most comprehensive way uh possible and I think this is another example of how the council is working really diligently to use every tool that we have in our toolkit to keep the public safe so I want to thank you all again for your efforts I look forward to having us say for summer this year than years past uh thank you councilmember comes from Lewis George uh thank you chairman I I will offer marks and then I will also move an amendment um there has been a lot of um negotiations and talking regarding uh this emergency legislation and there is one portion of the legislation that I have tried to uh work with my colleagues on regarding uh the adult pre-trial uh DC is absolutely experiencing a wave of violence right now that deserves an Urgent Response no one disagrees uh all of us our neighbors every single day are experiencing crime that it is scary and they rightfully are scared I you know say we've all been many of us have been victims of primes ourselves I said I was on a traffic safety walkthrough my car window was bashed in my purse was taken it was a reality in front of my my sister's house her best friend was leaving her house and she was carjacked at gunpoint in front of my sister's house Prime is not no one is not facing the reality of the crime crisis here in the District of Columbia I don't believe any of my colleagues on this council is I believe everyone is taking it seriously and that's why it is so alarming when people say the DC council is not taking crime seriously every single one of my colleagues are taking this seriously and I reject the rhetoric that is produced as a result of that I see my colleague trehon white in the trenches every day I respond to Crime on on scene every day we are taking this seriously and I think I wish the conversation would stop being the council does not care and the rhetoric that comes towards the council as a result is divisive and it doesn't help us work better as Government partners I think it is not responsible leadership for the response to this with that being said to involve stripping all D.C residents of the right to due process I come to you as an attorney who is Howard law trained attorney who studied criminal law who has prosecuted in two jurisdictions both Pennsylvania and here in the District of Columbia I think I'm the only person who can say I prosecuted times of homicide unfortunately rapes unfortunately armed robberies so I'm coming to you with my real life experience both educational experience and both uh work experience and I know as a black woman sometimes our education our work experience is dismissed and I'm asking you not to do that it is not responsible for leadership to use strategies that have been shown over and over again to not work I want the council to take extra uh take drastic actions we're making DC communities safe to me that means changes to Legal standards that are shown to reduce violence and reflect involvement in a community and other stakeholders there is no with this adult pre-trial one we are literally upturning due process which is a right that we all have chairman without objection thank you there is no credible evidence that pre-trial detention would make DC safer but this change would come with very real harm of putting thousand DC residents in jail unjustly before they have had a trial before a trial the only evidence we do have about pre-trial detention is that it is a poor way to prevent incidents of violence and very few people who are waiting trial commit violent crimes and in fact it has been shown to that to increase the likelihood of future criminal activity there is a real chance this portion of the bill will make violence in DC worse data from pre-trial Services Agency shows that 92 percent of the people remain of rest free during their pre-trial supervision only two percent of people who are arrested while on release are arrested for crimes of violence we are talking about emergency we're talking about changing a legal standard and due process on an emergency basis I think it is irresponsible legislating I hate it when I saw people saying oh the prime bill is up the crime bill is up I was like no it's not a crime deal but with this provision it is it is a crime bill because we're doing the same thing we did in 1994 when it was a crime Bill and it was for the same reasons crime is rising in our cities we must respond we have books on this we have scholarly articles on this chocolate City so many articles have talked about us doing this it's the same reaction it's the same players it's the same argument we cannot make the same mistake here this is the portion of the bill that I think is so critical and this is how mass incarceration happens bit by bit little by little I hear my colleague saying to me I don't support mass incarceration I think us on an emergency basis changing a legal standard and and upturning due process is reckless but also it is US repeating the mistakes of the past let us not do this this book has been written that was in 1994 we are here years later we cannot make this mistake and I'm not saying we shouldn't change it I'm just saying on an emergency basis I'm asking that you all consider taking this portion out on an emergency basis because of the implications and because the data doesn't support it pre-trial Services all of you have it show 90 of people remain invest free only two percent who are arrested while on release are arrested for crimes of evidence so the talking point there is rhetoric rhetoric is how mass incarceration happened before when we talked about and we know in this city what it looks like BC people know what it did to our families we remember going to Lauren I remember going to Lorton as a child for those who don't remember we've all lost family members we've also been victims of crime black people have been victims of a lot of things like my colleague alluded to we have been victims of systemic racism for years we are victims of poverty right now we are victims of generational wealth Gap and many of my colleagues have addressed these things in legislation so all I'm asking for in this amendment is for us to look at the portion that is regarding an adult this adult statute and listen to the data if it's not an emergency portion of this legislation I support all other portions of this legislation I said that to my colleague Robert pinto and to you all but this portion is not something we should vote on Emergency we we've discussed this at the hearing at a public hearing weeks ago more than 100 people testified long into the night deciding to and and saying that this was the case this emergency bill is Fault forcing a false choice we do not need to choose between bad strategies for nothing there are many other ways we could take emergency action and response to violence and we've and I've advocated for those six you know extensively like this is a decade-long consensus that this is the case that this would do this and I really want my colleagues to reconsider and I'm moving this amendment chairman that would strike the language on the adult on the adult uh pre-trial statute because I do not think on an emergency basis we should do this and we do not have the data that supports this and we know what will happen if we do this and that is the reason I think this is a this is haphazard policy and that making it can ruin families and children for generations to come and what happens when you're locked up in pre-trial you have the potential of losing housing chairman you have and I'm finishing up when you're when you're pre-trial before you're innocent guilty before innocent you have the percentage of losing housing if you're a parent you have the potential of your children being taken from you if you have a job you have a potential of being fired so in the midst of that we also have a housing crisis uh opioid crisis a mental health crisis and we also have a vacancy crisis that hasn't been addressed specifically in our agencies that are Public Safety agency where we've seen turnover year after year you've been eight minutes chairman I appreciate the time all I'm asking for my colleagues to do we can address this on the permanent basis but as for upturning due process and doing adult pre-trial detention the evidence does not suggest we do this on an emergency basis and this doesn't call for an emergency and so I move this amendment and asked for my colleague's support uh we have the amendment for us is our discussion this member Pinto well thank you Mr chairman and thank you very much councilman Lewis George um for moving the amendment and for your um your points that you raise I guess uh first let me say I oppose this amendment and ask my colleagues not to support it um for a couple of reasons first when we talk about this is not something we need to do on emergency last year we had 203 homicides 12 of those were suspects who were out on pre-trial release and 18 of the victims for people who are out on pre-trial release so those are the real numbers in human lives that we're thinking about when we make the decision that we cannot wait to act that is the data that we're looking at when you talk about due process concerns we're expanding the category of cases that are considered danger to a community we're not changing anything about the legal standard so I I would disagree with your statements there um your Amendment would also make it easier to hold a juvenile than adult because we're making changes to the juvenile statute and so it would that would kind of turn on its had a lot of what I've heard from all of our colleagues that we want to have a higher standard when we make a decision to hold a juvenile you mentioned that there are not any studies suggesting this there was just a study that came out of New York that found that expanding pre-trial release for people who were charged with violent crime increased recidivism so that's just one of the studies that we looked at but it was most on point to kind of what you talked about um I'm very concerned by a comparative point to the 94 crime bill because that uh was about penalty enhancements this bill we do not touch that we purposefully made sure to wait for the permanent bill when we think about how we can ensure although many of the lessons that we learned through the revised criminal code Act of ensuring that there's proportional response to our violent crimes and I look forward to engaging with you and others on that conversation to make sure that we're doing that in a holistic basis or that was specifically not included in this emergency so last I would just reiterate that I believe this is an emergency I do not think this measure is going to solve all crime in the district by any means but I do think it is appropriate to say we have a crisis of violence right now and to have judges consider if a crime of violence has occurred as one of the metrics to determine if someone's going to be held pre-trial is an appropriate standard thank you further discussion on the amendment uh I'm sorry councilman bonds did you want to be reckoned councilmember Freeman are you raised yeah yeah I I raised my hand but then I saw other hands and so I put mine down but I'll go uh thank you very much uh this really is a hard one and and I actually have quite a lot of sympathy to the arguments that councilmember Lewis George is making um but I also do think it I wish we were not doing this on an emergency basis but it is an emergency and we're on the cusp of what's going to be a hot summer and the kinds of numbers that council member uh Pinto talks about I think we do have to keep in mind and so there I do feel a need to do something significant now including increasing access to pre-trial detention for adults I wish the approach was more tailored than what we're seeing here there was work done on the juvenile side and you tailored it in conjunction with lots of folks and I think it would make sense to be doing that same thing in this setting you know at the breakfast Somebody went through a list of the things that were taken out that on the June on the juvenile side but we took them out on the juvenile side because they weren't things that were on a big upswing and we could take them out here and have a parallelism you know your point councilmember Pinto that it would make it easier to have pre-trial detention for a juvenile than an adult I don't think you want to be there but I do think the rationale for what we did on the juvenile side could apply on the adult side whatever we do here and I don't think this is easy for anybody because they're if if we if we increase access to pre-trial detention there will be lives that are damaged and if we don't increase access to pre-trial detention there can be victims out there who will be hurt by folks who are out on the street who might otherwise not be on the street and lives will be damaged lives are being damaged in the city all too often we have to do what we think is in our best judgment I think it is along the lines of what you've done I really do wish on the adult side that it was a little bit more tailored but also and I think lots of people have said this already and we should not kid ourselves that this is even remotely the most important thing that we're going to do on Public Safety because it is not we are never going to incarcerate our way to safety if we're not doing the kinds of things that others up here have talked about about addressing root causes giving hope to people we're going nowhere and we're going to keep having these conversations about ratcheting up penalties I don't want to have these conversations we have to now it's not ratcheting up penalties but it's ratcheting up incarceration and I that's not the direction I or I think any of us want to go so while we do this and I'm going to support you on this even though I wish it was more tailored uh councilmember Pinto I'm going to support you on what you're trying to do here really we all have to take very very seriously addressing the root causes of creating hope in places where there is no because that's our real promises oh thank you councilmember Roman uh anyone else on the amendment uh first round councilmember Parker all right I just want to elevate uh a question that councilmember bonds raised earlier or it was more of a suggestion to make clear to District residents what we're actually talking about so this amendment been striking the uh pre-trial clause for adults or an emergency councilmember Pinto would do what not to put you on a spot but if uh let me say that in a more Artful way can you just describe what is the current statute and what would change in your legislation so that we can be clear what this amendment would do because by striking this I would suppose that means it would go back to the current statute so thanks for the question so in my view the current statute for pre-trial detention for adults is an extremely hard standard to me um and that's not just from my own view that's in countless conversations uh with our judges um with folks who pursue these cases authorities attorney's office in understanding kind of all of the steps that are required here um and it's a complicated statute because it requires multiple levels of analysis to make sure that the judge is is doing the right thing most simply put there's a presumption in favor of release unless the person is deemed a flight risk or a danger to the community once you're deemed a danger to the community then the court has to consider are there any conditions of release that can keep the community safe most judges still err on that side of yes there are conditions um and then there are some crimes that you have to take seriously like if you're repeat offenses so this adds to the rebuttable present option still rebuttable rebuttable presumption that you may be held pre-trial if you've committed a crime of violence and I just want to highlight a few of those crimes aggravated assault Act of terrorism assault on a police officer assault with a dangerous weapon assault with intent to kill sexual abuse child sexual abuse carjacking armed carjacking web possession of weapons of mass destruction these are serious crimes that we as a city need to take very seriously we do not want to be overly detaining everybody people deserve a fair trial and that's not what we're seeing in the District of Columbia we're seeing a very hard standard to meet and so I think this kind of right sizes that a little bit by adding these egregious crimes of violence to the list of rebuttable presumptions to be held that is helpful so in my last 16 seconds uh if this amendment were to pass striking the changes to the pre-trial detention for adults Clause it would go back to largely uh that extending to Folk charged with having a firearm or who are a threat of fleeing the district which is the current after all those levels of review that I went through it would say if you've committed a dangerous crime or Crime Of Violence while armed got it thank you I believe the only other speakers comes from Lewis George on the second round two minutes two minutes I will be short chairman I think I've heard so many of my colleagues to say say like we all know we're not going to incarcerate or incarcerate our way out of this and so if we're if we all know we're not going to incarcerate our way out of this let's not incarcerate our way out of this very simple right um I want to be clear that uh the notion that this would allow us to detain juveniles uh which was stated is is not true by removing that it would this has no my has no impact on the juvenile stature I want to make that clear as I've served as a juvenile uh prosecutor and I got to work with councilmember pinto and councilmember Allen on making that juvenile statue right fit and and council member Freeman I think you're right we should right size this I just think right sizing on emergency when it is not in fact emergency is the problem that I have with this because it's a legal standard that we're changing on an emergency basis I also want to note uh that their bill would create a the homicide notion that councilmember Pinto pointed out would already be under the current law the court applies a rebuttal uh presumption already so the rebuttable resumption already applies when defendants is charged with a crime of violence involving a firearm that is the overwhelming portion of homicides so the law as current written would cover those homicides that is a case where a judge made a bad decision and none of us can change judicial discretion we can talk about it but we can't change it I think you're right in those instances where somebody committed homicide while and a judge released in pre-trial that was a bad judgment decision and I think we can all agree on that but we are not the judicial branch of government we are the legislative branch of government and that's a different conversation so I want to be clear the homicide notion is not in in that case would have already been covered under our current rebuttable presumption and that was a bad and those instances were bad decisions by judges with that current rebuttable presumption I want to say uh lastly I think that is important that we do this the right way and this piece of it is is so critical uh and if we make this wrong decision we literally have the ability we're going to be have the ability to destroy people's lives and I don't want to play politics with people lives none of us should want to do that we need to be able to sleep at night knowing we're not holding someone and it's going to affect their housing stability it's going to affect their children's livelihood and it's going to take and affect their ability to gain a livelihood through jobs I'm just asking for my colleagues so let's do this more permanent or temporary not an emergency please thank you if there's no further discussion we have the amendment before us by a Voice vote all those in favor of the amendment I'll call please chairman uh Madam Secretary would you call the roll councilmember Freeman uh to the amendment no councilmember Freeman votes No councilmember Gray yes because remember gray votes yes councilmember Henderson no councilmember Henderson votes no hence remember Lewis George Yes councilmember Lewis George votes yes councilmember McDuffie no councilmember McDuffie vote snow chairman Mendelson no chairman Mendelson votes no councilmember no no has Roman nadeaux votes no councilmember Parker yeah councilmember Parker votes no councilmember Pinto no councilmember Pinto vote snow councilmember Robert White councilmember Robert White vote snow comes from betray on white no councilmember Treon white vote snow councilmember Allen nope councilmember Allen vote snow councilmember bonds no councilmember bonds votes no Mr chairman there are two yeses and eleven no's thank you Madam Secretary the amendment fails uh further yes councilmember Henderson um thank you Mr chairman uh we have seen so much unimaginable loss in our city due to a rise of gun violence and crime I'm not just talking about the loss of life but for many residents the loss of feeling safe just doing basic things going to a barbecue driving through their neighborhood taking the metro it has had Ripple effects across our communities and our city to curb this tide of violence we need cross-agency collaboration and partnership from Community stakeholders but we also must Advance measures that can take the temperature down from in some of our communities so that our diversion and violence Interruption programs can actually take hold and work this bill has the potential to do just that but I want to be clear this is not the first act by the legislative branch on crime the council passed the near act which established the office of neighborhood safety and engagement we started the hospital-based violence Interruption program to stop cycles of violence and Trauma we funded expanded out-of-school time opportunities keeping recreation centers and libraries open longer and despite the narrative we've support major investments in MPD including expanding the cadet program to put more homegrown officers in our communities I deeply care about all individuals being able to live work play and simply exist in environments that are free from forms of violence physical and non-physical I also deeply care about ensuring that we're not perpetuating the same mistakes from the 80s and 90s passing laws that explodes mass incarceration in the name of uneasy peace I believe this bill strikes a balance I appreciate councilmember Pinto reaching out to members to seek input on areas of concern I raised a couple of issues that made me apprehensive to support this emergency and those were addressed through her proposed changes I'm going to support this bill today acknowledging it will not solve all of our problems I accountability alone is not prevention we must still have effective diversion and violence Interruption programs solving cases and Swift arrests when incidents occurs and actually seeing successful prosecutions legislation is not I repeat is not required to provide Authority for any of our government Partners to do better on any one of these fronts further we must begin to acknowledge and truly tackle issues that overlap with our spike in crime like our City's corresponding spike in drug use and overdoses in 2014 DC had 83 opioid related fatalities last year we had 458 that's on top of the 3600 plus drug overdoses that occurred in the district where the individual managed to survive when people talk about our need to address the underlying issues that lead to crime and violence this is one and I don't think we talk about it nearly enough today's bill is not the end we have much more work to do thank you Mr chairman thank you councilmember Henderson Is there further on the bill I'm going to speak briefly to this I'm of course supporting this legislation but I want to say that I'm angry and I am angry uh because and I'm picking up on something that councilmember Lewis George said and that is that the council is being blamed the council does not care that's what folks are saying and I'm also angry because I think there are things that the mayor can do outside of legislation that would make a significant difference with regard to Public Safety and she's not doing it and instead she is a chief saber Rattler with regard to the council must act the headline in the metro section today the council must act she says she's not blaming the council I had a long conversation with her yesterday but that's not how citizens are hearing it today's legislation is useful it's important I support it and let me be clear in my remarks I am not criticizing the police I want to say that up front and I'll say it again but what angers me is that I think our citizenry is being misled crime fighting is primarily a function of the executive branch the police and other law enforcement agencies they make the arrests they prosecute they lock up we don't do that most crime is committed by repeat offenders a robber robs more than once Shooters unfortunately shoot more than once or commit other violent offenses more than once recently the chief told me about a a carjacker who was apprehended and closed over two dozen carjacking cases violent crime typically is committed by repeat offenders so the single most important strategy which we don't control is closing cases it stops the repeat criminal it has its turret effect Swift and Certain Justice has a deterrent effect but if you don't arrest if you don't close the case there's no deterrent effect this is not a legislative function and we should not be faulted for this which will make a huge difference in crime in the district so I wish the mayor would stop telling people the council is the solution last week I got in trouble for saying in an interview that uh when I criticized the closure rate let me be clear I am not criticizing the police last week I said in an interview that the closure rate was something like 50 for homicides I was wrong so my staff did a little bit of research and what I found and I said this yesterday at the press conference is that when you look at homicides that occurred last year where there was an arrest last year the rate was 35 35 now I was careful there I said homicides occurred last year an arrest last year so an assistant chief said at the mayor's press conference yesterday well that's not fair because if how much I was committed in December December 31st of course it wouldn't be if there's no objection a little more time thank you no objection um an assistant chief said well but that's not fair because if how much I was committed December 31st of course it's probably not going to be solved on December 31st okay so I asked my staff to go and look how about homicides closed within 12 months less than half 47 less than half of homicides are closed within one year of their being committed now the paper today the article with the mayor um quotes an assistant chief saying well but if you look at the UCR data at 62 yeah the UCR data and I don't want to fault that because it's it's a useful statistic and it's a uniform statistic across the country looks at homicides closed in that year regardless of when the homicide occurred so if a homicide occurred in the year 1999 and was solved last year a cold case it counts against last year's homicide rate for the UCR reporting nothing wrong with that but we're interested I'm interested in if we want to make a difference the mayor should be interested in Swift and Certain Justice Swift swift means closing homicide cases quickly and robberies quickly and awic cases quickly and that's not something that we legislate something we could do is provide resources to the police our first one to raise my hand except unfortunately I think others on the Davis would raise their hand first as well and I had a conversation with the chief the other day and I said you know tell us what resources you need to close cases because I'm all for them the the mayor was quoted in the yesterday at her press conference halting us councilmember and I hope you don't mind for our reducing by you said 15 million dollars to police budget three years ago three years ago she's still on that whatever resource I'm pretty confident whatever resources the police need to close cases we will support that you have to make the request in fact actually comes from around you and I talked about this the other day there were a couple of things that the chief told you you haven't been asked of the council to do to close cases the mayor can do that and don't blame the council and don't Point your finger at the council and don't tell people that the council doesn't care because we do care but if you don't ask for the resources to close cases if you don't focus on the need to close cases and the other part of this and I've spent too much time on this already so I apologize but the other part of this is the prosecution what's going on with prosecutions so we all know that posted a story roughly two-thirds of cases that are in arrest talking about all cases the U.S attorney declines to prosecute if you don't prosecute you're not going to get a conviction you're not going to lock the person up that's pretty important and there needs to be more attention to that to closing cases and increasing prosecutions more aggressive prosecutions instead of pointing fingers at the council I am not criticizing the police the police need more resources they need to identify them we will support them but I am faulting anyone who says pause here anyone who says that focusing on closure rate is asinine quote unquote I am faulting that so my point here is that the mayor has to hold it has to um I can't read my notes Here my closing point is this that we need to focus on what will truly make a difference significantly make a difference this legislation will be helpful I support this legislation we need to move forward with this legislation but we will get better bigger progress faster progress if there's more attention to what is needed to close cases and getting aggressive prosecutions and I'll leave it at that thank you yes councilmember Bob didn't need to provoke provoke more um I'm glad you did provoke more discussion because I think it's very important for us on this Council and for the mayor and for our um D.C attorney general to understand the value of us all having a say on this important matter that's what the public expects and that's what we should be giving to the public I have said time and time again it is way past time for us all to come together to discuss this matter I am delighted that today we are giving robust comments to this situation we're all involved the end I want the public to understand that we we do care not just the council but the mayor cares and the agencies that are involved in so-called crime fighting have to care as well but more importantly Us in community have to care enough to join in in the battle and so your comments today are right on On Target we can pass the blame around as much as we want to but that does not give us a solution and so I'm just really delighted that we finally decided we'd come together and and move this agenda my only regret is that we don't have the mayor here with us and we don't have the D.C attorney general here where we all can join in and and sort of you know map out some of this stuff that we keep talking about and we keep pouring down dollars into but thank you very much for your your outbursts um we're just so happy to have it on the record thank you so much uh thank you uh if there's no further just there's gonna be more councilmember um go ahead councilmember Nadeau who's not spoken thank you you just got me all riled up chairman I was gonna Let It Go with a written statement but here we are so earlier this year mayor Bowser made a big show of saying that she was going to be sending something down to the council for consideration and she said it repeatedly for months while we waited with baited breath to see what this would be and ultimately she sent it down in a timeline that was incredibly tight for us and then insisted we should pass something before recess and I want to commend councilmember Pinto for her a plum and hard work on these issues um because she not only held the 12-hour hearing that the mayor called for but she also took what she heard and put it on paper and turned it into an emergency to try to make a difference and to show the mayor that we could pass something before recess but something that was on our terms now I'm out in community just like the rest of you and I'm hearing the same things about how all of this is the council's Fault now I've been on the council for eight years and Council has changed people have come people have gone but the one thing that has stayed the same in the past eight years is the mayor now this Council and the councils that I have been on over the past eight years have been working incredibly hard to move us forward on public safety I can't imagine anyone listening to this discussion believes that if we had not had a mayor if we had had a mayor who would fully fund and implement the near Act for example we wouldn't be in a better position today if we had a mayor that was willing to implement the laws on the books instead of coming up with her own programs that excuse my language are sort of uh half-cocked versions of the stuff that we've put into statute that aren't even fully funded there's a lot of diversions in this discussion constantly and the factor that links them all together as the mayor we have led with good strong policy we have not had a good strong partner we are not the implementers but we've put a vision out there to be implemented that we can believe in that our voters and residents believe in that is based on evidence that is the direction we should be going United as one government and yet here we are year after year fighting for pennies to implement things that should be the what we are investing all of our funds in fighting over six million dollars from the MPD budget that we had to use to restore cuts to victims services come on let's move on from that and let's focus on Solutions we passed this bill today at the mayor asked us to do something before recess and we did but the American do do stuff any day she doesn't need us to pass bills she can implement the laws on the books she can push our partners to do their jobs she can ask MPD why they're not patrolling equitably across the city or provide data on what they're doing or why the U.S attorney is declining two-thirds of the cases by the way our locally elected and accountable attorney general is only declining 26 of his cases so we know that you can prosecute crimes in the District of Columbia I've gone over time I think I've made my point but I want to reiterate this council is united in addressing public safety issues and we'll continue to do it in our many iterations thank you Mr chairman thank you councilmember council member pinto and then we'll have a vote okay um I want to end on a positive note because this should be and is an example of our legislative branch and our executive branch and our law enforcement partners and members of the community coming together not to get everything right not to get every piece that everybody wanted but in a way to collaboratively solve some of our Public Safety challenges when we think about case closures this bill will help make sure some of the things that we pass today to make sure that police can engage in vehicular Pursuits to make sure that GPS data is admissible to make sure that people for the most violent crimes are held um to ensure that there's an offense if you discharge a firearm into the public those are to expand the camera rebate program all of these things that we as a body are Our Hope about to pass are going to help with our case closure rates they're going to help Empower our U.S attorney to bring more cases successfully so just like we are frustrated when the rhetoric is around us not caring or doing the right thing I think we should lead by example um that we are open armed and willing partners with the executive um and this bill I hope is an example of that that we can move forward in a deliberate way in a collaborative way and I'm looking forward to the larger permanent bill to make some of the improvements to our public safety system that I know are important to all of us in government in the legislative branch the executive branch our attorney general our U.S attorney's office um and I want to thank our U.S attorney as well and sometimes get some Flack um but I have found him to be a great partner and his office in crafting some of the components of this bill to make sure that they have the tools that they need to appropriately bring these cases so thank you all again I think this is a good news day that we are working together as a government and I hope you all can support this bill today thank you uh thank you uh so we'll proceed to a vote on the bill 25-395 as amended we'll have a Voice vote all those in favor of the bill as amended say aye aye are there any opposed please record me as voting no councilmember Lewis George will be recorded as voting no okay um otherwise the majority prevails the bill is approved the next measure is PR 25-326 department of For Hire Vehicles delivery vehicle traffic enforcement expansion emergency declaration resolution of 2023 councilmember Allen thank you Mr chairman this emergency is a gap filler to keep laws already in effect to ensure Authority remains in place for the Department of 400 vehicles to enforce traffic and safety violations it's necessary while the council advances the permanent legislation which is introduced by myself and councilman to do thank you very much councilman um and counselor is also a co-introducer on this round of emergency measures thank you Mr chairman with that I move the deck um we have the Declaration before us discussion comes from an adult do you want to say anything uh Madam Secretary if there's no discussions uh with food no no discussion actually I'll say a quick thing while you figure that out thank you councilmember Allen I'm glad to join you in supporting this extension of the department for for higher Vehicles authority to enforce moving violations for food and parcel delivery vehicles it's been exciting to do a deep dive into how dfhb now uh how they do this now that it's under my committee and one thing I think we've uncovered is the agency has a lot of work to do in order to keep up with the rapidly changing industry given the incredible rise in instant delivery services that function in ways that are comparable to ride hailing it's only natural for dfhv to absorb these responsibilities and make sure the drivers and those they interact with are safe and I'm looking forward to moving a permanent version of this bill once it is introduced thank you chairman thank you for providing that there's no discussion I still haven't figured that out if there is no further discussion of course now I've lost my agendas um we'll have a roll call vote on PR 25-326 Madam Secretary councilmember Gray councilmember Henderson yes yes how's Robert Henderson votes Yes councilmember Lewis George yes that's one of those George votes yes councilmember McDuffie yes councilmember McDuffie votes yes chairman Middleton yes chairman that's on votes yes councilman yes that's remember Nadal votes yes councilmember Parker yes customer Parker votes yes husband councilmember Pinto votes yes councilmember Robert White yes councilmember Robert White oh it's yes council member try online yes councilworm between white votes yes councilmember Allen yes come from Allen votes yes councilmember bonds yes councilmember bonsfields yes customer Truman yes councilman Newman votes yes councilmember Gray yes councilmember gray votes yes Mr chairman there are 13 yeses thank you Madam Secretary the Declaration is approved unanimously we have the underlying Bill Bill 25-369 councilmember Allen so moved Mr chair discussion all in favor of Bill 25-369 say aye aye aye are there any no votes I don't see or hear any no votes the bills approved unanimously the next item on the agenda is PR 25-320 Xenia Street pre-relocation emergency declaration resolution of 2023 council member Treyon white uh thank you chairman for the ability to speak to the Xenia Street tree relocation emergency declaration resolution of 2023. um this emergency legislation was originally designed to speak to the 22 trees um That was supposed to be designated originally identified by DDOT and it's notification for the 600 blocks of Xenia Street not the 400 block of Xenia Street which they have been placed um foreign that the American badge tree could grow up to 60 feet tall and 30 feet wide which residents Express uh issues with both to myself and I know you chairman you visited there the other day um which is between some buildings and this property is located in Washington Highland one of the most dangerous neighborhoods according to MPD data in Washington DC um today I will be withdrawing this bill based on a compromise by DDOT let me say this as a city leader it's my full understanding that I work for the people not the other way around and so we look for some of that same thought pattern from DDOT which I don't see often is often dictated to the community about what's going to happen and DDOT uh acts as if it's going to give a listening ear but most of the time these projects are already in motion and going even beyond the tree to the construction of the roads I see that a lot of construction workers and more particularly developers are getting filthy rich off these projects and when community members even Vice Naval Commissioners and council members give input it falls on deaf ears um so I'm concerned about that type of leadership um and so I do want to encourage more conversation with DDOT as relates to projects in which community members can give great weight to an input on what happens in their Community because the reality is is that we work for them we want to make sure we have a healthy approach in beautifying uh planting trees roads safety precautions in the streets in the community but also want to have some empathy on how and where that happens in the community so today I'll be withdrawing this measure um and I did get a note from it to the point where they are calling a growth inhibitor to keep these trees from growing in these uh lost proportions in a short amount of time in these communities so we appreciate the compromise on that um chairman so obviously withdrawing this measure today thank you thank you councilmember white the measure is withdrawn the next measure is PR 25-334 Walter Reed development assistance emergency declaration resolution of 2023 councilmember Lewis George yes uh thank you chairman and it's weird but this legislation is necessary to fund the completion of critical infrastructure promised at the Walter Redevelopment particularly Water and Sewer lines roads and pedestrian bike Pathways the infrastructure portion of the development faces a large uh funding Gap given two reasons one obviously the uh this budget was made in 2016 and construction causative increase at a historic rate but mainly because DC water indeeda are now required requiring uh the replacement of the water and sewer Mains that had existed on the Army Medical Center site instead of using reusing the infrastructure as planned uh at this point the master developer needs additional funds to complete the infrastructure that was promised to the community both to mitigate the traffic safety traffic impacts on Shepard Park and Brightwood and to serve the newly developed property right now there are seniors in new apartments who don't have convenient access to Georgia Avenue and can't get service from a bus or neighborhood necklines because Maine Drive hasn't been completed because of these infrastructure issues this legislation will provide the funding to the developer and the source of that money is the payments received from the developer reinvesting this money into the site's infrastructure through the existing Walter Reed reinvestment fund as appropriate use of these funds and I urge colleagues to support this measure and I now move the Declaration uh we have the um declaration before us is there discussion nope um hearing no discussion we have the Declaration before us uh the vote will be on PR 25-334 Madam Secretary would you call the roll councilmember Henderson yes councilmember Henderson votes Yes councilmember Lewis George yes councilman Blues George votes yes councilmember McDuffie councilmember McDuffie chairman mendelsohn yes chairman mendelsonville yes councilman benedale yes councilmember yes councilmember Parker yes Council Robert Parker votes yes councilmember Pinto councilmember Pinto votes yes council member Robert White yes councilmember Robert White votes yes councilman patreon right yes councilman Tran white votes yes councilmember Allen yes councilmember Alan votes yes council member bonds yes councilman so it's yes councilmember Freeman yes councilmember Freeman votes yes councilmember Gray councilmber Gray's absent councilmember McDuffie that's remember mcduffie's absent Mr chairman there are 11 yeses and two absents the Declaration is approved unanimously we have the underlying Bill Bill 25-383 councilmember Lewis George Thomas discussion a by Voice vote on 25 Bill 25-383 all those in favor say aye aye opposed I don't hear or see any no votes uh the measures approved the bills approved unanimously the next measure is short-term disability insurance benefit protection clarification emergency declaration resolution of 2023 do I recognize you councilmember Lewis George or it comes from rebounds up to you you wanna go first I'll go back Mr chairman okay thank you very much um this bill protects the universal pay the benefits payments to District workers who also have short-term disability insurance plans regardless of the jurisdiction in which the insurance policy was issued or written it prohibits private disability insurance providers from reducing short-term disability benefit payments for district workers based on the amount of the universal paid leave benefits the insurer expects the employee to receive the legislation has helped ensure that D.C workers receive the paid leave benefits they are eligible for and the short-term disability benefits they have paid a premium for passing this legislation today as an emergency act would provide another tool for us to ensure that District workers receive all the benefits they are entitled to receive regardless of where their short-term disability insurance policy was written the universal paid lead program is a Lifeline for many workers and families and residents across the district so I'm glad that we have the opportunity to look very closely at this legislation today I'll be working I'm looking forward to working with my colleague um councilmember Lewis George and with others as well as the Department of Insurance Securities and banking to find a permanent solution that is enforceable and works for our D.C residents um councilmember Lewis George will give you some background on this because as you can see this is an emergency measure designed to make sure that the current emergency measure does not actually expire councilwoman Lewis George uh thank you uh as councilmember bonds noted we are moving the short-term disability insurance benefit protection clarification emergency declaration 2023 uh in 2022 in 2020 the District of campaign benefits to District workers employed in the private sector uh who needed to take paid leave from work to care for an ailing family member their own serious health condition or new child shortly after the universal pay lead program began paying the benefits the council was informed by District workers that the short-term disability insurance plans they held and paid for separate and apart from DC's paid lead program we're we're intending to reduce their insurance insurance benefit payments and an amount equal to what DC paid leave would pay uh this information was first brought to the attention of the prior workforce and development committee uh by award for constituent preparing to welcome a child in practice what this meant for this worker and others is that a worker or their company is paying for two separate sets of policies but only receiving one for workers lucky enough to already have short-term disability this leaves them no better off than if there were no paid leave social insurance program for the city because it renders the added benefit protections meaningless uh this is an interference with paid lead program which is specifically prohibited in the law if you pay full price for two benefit programs you should receive the two sets of benefits it is Consumer Fraud for these private insurance companies to subsidize the benefits they owe to policyholders with the district's more inclusive pay league program benefit offsetting was previously outlawed in the fiscal year 2022 budget support act but even so certain short-term disability insurance companies continue to practice because the policies they executed were not specifically drafted or issued in the district uh the clarification includes these measures uh the clarifications included in the in these measures enable the Department of Insurance Securities and banking to enforce prohibitions against private Market short-term disability insurance providers who attempt to reduce paid leave benefits to Paul see holders regardless of their the jurisdiction in which a plan was written or executed the council obviously previously passed the short-term disability insurance uh protection clarification shipment rate act 2022 24-202 which was enacted on December 13 2022 the measure will expire July 26 2023 during the upcoming recess necessitating action today to re authorize these important clarifications um so I want to thank my colleague councilman for competing uh the hearing and Illuminating discussion and I want to urge my colleagues today to pass a new round of emergency and temporary bills to keep this law in effect until a permanent measure can be passed to protect District workers from interference and offsetting associated with the district's Universal paid leave program thank you uh Is there further discussion we have the Declaration before us this is PR 25-337 Madam Secretary would you call the role I was remember Lewis George yes George votes yes Parker yes councilmember Parker votes yes councilmember Pinto councilmember Pinto votes yes councilmember Robert White yes councilmember Robert White votes yes customer betray on right yes Council yes councilmember Allen yes councilman by Allen votes yes councilmember bonds yes yes councilmember Gray councilmember Henderson yes councilmember Henderson votes yes Mr chairman there are 12 yeses and one absent uh the Declaration is approved unanimously we have the underlying Bill Bill 25-389 who's moving it if nobody moves it then we can move on still moved thank you discussion we are at number 20 out of I think it's 23 uh we have the global forces or discussion the vote will be on Bill 25-389 all those in favor say aye aye aye are there any opposed I don't see her hear any no votes the bills approved unanimously oh my goodness the next one is me um on page 13 of the agenda a PR 25-311 floodplain review Authority emergency declaration resolution of 2023 so moved uh what this does this is at the request of the executive um in its oversight of the dcra and now the department of buildings the committee as a whole has made some changes to the law one of which has to do with a floodplain review in the permitting process which of course was assigned to the Department of buildings and we were contacted that really should be with the Department of the environment I think yes Department of environment doe and so the this bill makes that fix and I move the Declaration discussion um secretary would you call the roll this is on PR 25-311 councilmember McDuffie yes councilmember McDuffie votes yes chairman Mendelson yes chairman mendels and votes yes councilmember to do yes councilmember nadeaux votes yes councilmember Parker yes councilmember Parker votes yes councilmember Pinto yes councilmember Pinto votes yes councilmember Robert White yes councilmember Robert White votes yes councilman betray on white yes councilman patran white votes yes councilmember Allen is absent councilmember bonds yes councilman Freeman yes councilmember Freeman votes yes councilmember gray is absent councilmember Henderson yes councilmember Henderson votes yes councilmember Allen council member Allen votes yes Mr chairman there are 12 yeses and one absent uh the Declaration is approved unanimously I moved the underlying bill bill 25-354 is there a discussion uh by Voice vote all those in favor say aye aye opposed you guys have it unanimously the next measure is pr25-118 opening of streets and designation of open streets in square s5868 so 22-01486 emergency declaration resolution of 2023. this is the uh emergency version of the permanent legislation that we approved on first reading earlier today and also marked up in the committee the whole earlier today these are the streets on the Saint Elizabeth Saint Elizabeth's campus in phase one uh if I didn't already say so moved I moved the Declaration discussion roll call vote chairman mendelsohn uh yes chairman Mendelson votes yes councilman Bernardo yes councilman benedo votes yes councilmember Parker Robert White yes councilmember Robert White votes yes councilman betray on Mike yes councilman patreon white votes yes councilmember Allen comes from Allen votes yes comes more of a bonds yes councilmember bonds yes councilman Freeman yes comes from Improvement votes yes councilmember Grace absent councilmember Henderson yes councilmember Henderson votes yes councilman Brothers George Yes councilmember Lewis George votes yes and councilmember McDuffie yes councilmember McDuffie votes yes Mr chairman there are 12 yeses and one absent thank you Madam Secretary of the Declaration is approved unanimously the underlying bill is Bill 25-143 so moved discussion by Voice vote all those in favor of the bill bill 25-143 say I I are there any numbers are there any no votes I don't see or hear any bills approved unanimously the next measure is PR 25-359 compensation system changes or non-union uniformed members of the Metropolitan Police Department emergency declaration resolution of 2023. councilmember bonds um thank you chairman today I'm moving an emergency approval resolution to raise the salaries of Metropolitan Police Department employees who are not covered by a collective bargaining agreement on November 27 2022 the council approved a collective bargaining agreement for the paternal Order of Police Metropolitan Police Department Labor committee compensation unit 3 which represents certain employees in the Metropolitan Police Department this collective bargaining agreement provided for retroactive salary increases of 2.5 percent and FY 21 3.5 in FY 22 and 4 in fy23 the compensation system changes um before us today will provide non-union Metropolitan Police Department employees with the same retroactive and prospective salary increases insuring pay equity and parody between our unionized and non-unionized employees these salaries and pay adjustments are being moved by emergency so the department of human resources and the office of the Chief Financial Officer can act quickly to organize and distribute the raises and retroactive payments I asked my colleagues to support this measure thank you thank you councilmember bonds we have the Declaration before us is there discussion question Jimmy councilmember Tran White yeah councilman bonds are you stated that the this these wages have already been negotiated well yes and no what I'm really stating is that it has been the tradition that when the collective bargaining Agreements are reached those who serve in similar positions in an agency their salaries follow suit and so that is why we are moving this legislation today it will this will affect um 19 um uh unified um on uniformed members of the Metropolitan Police Department is has there been a cost analysis done about the what these increases would do and how much do you have to pay there certainly has um and it has been included in the um the budget that we passed for 2020 um 23. as well and that was the supplemental as well as in the fy24 so I don't have the numbers but I can get them if you need them immediately all right thank you so much I would think it's more than 19. it's lieutenants captains in the ranks above it's it's 19 actually that would be benefiting now this is the number we were given interesting and there should be a fiscal impact statement that came over with the legislation financial officer further discussion let me we have the Declaration before us um PR 25-359 Madam Secretary would you call the rule councilor I'm going to jail yes that's what I'm going to jail votes yes council member Parker yes councilmember Parker votes yes councilmember Pinto yes councilmember Pinto votes yes councilmember Robert White yes councilmember Robert White boats yes councilmember Treyon White yes it comes from patreon White votes yes councilmember Allen yes councilmember Alan votes yes councilmember bonds yes husband yes comes from frumin yes that's where my Freeman votes yes councilmember Gray's absent councilmember Henderson yes remember Henderson votes yes comes from Lewis George Yes councilmember Lewis George votes yes councilmember McDuffie yes councilmember McDuffie votes yes chairman Mendelson yes chairman Mendelson votes yes Mr chairman there are 12 yeses and one absent the declaration has approved unanimously the underlying measures PR 25-360 councilman Revenge cell move discussion by Voice vote all those in favor of PR 25-360 say I I opposed are there any opposed all the measures approved unanimously thank you um we've made a lot of progress we're almost done with page 13 and now we get to go back to page nine we have PR 25-339 it's at the bottom of the page limited purpose credential clarification emergency declaration revolution of 2023. councilmember Allen thank you Mr chairman it turns out Department of Human Services did not decide to fund this in the last couple hours uh so unfortunately there is a fiscal impact and so we are unable to take the steps what I'd like to do is withdraw at this time because that's the only option we've got and then try to work between now and September to see if we can't find a solution to bring the legislation back and when we reconvene for our next legislative meeting uh perhaps try again so I'm not going to postpone this specific measure because we might need to make changes to it so I'm going to withdraw this one with the intent that perhaps we can work out a solution and come back in September uh to move it forward or a different version of the board all right so the measure is withdrawn now we're back to page 13. um if there's no objection we'll move the Temporaries and block and for the record I'm going to read them and I'm also going to check with general counsel and three of them Bill 25-362 advisory network commission remote operations temporary Bill 25-364 foreclosure more time and homeowner assistance fund coordination temporary Bill 25-366 migrant services and supports extension temporary Bill 25-372 family rehousing stabilization program protection temporary off Bill 25-375 office of unified Communications transparency and accuracy temporary Bill 25-388 law enforcement vehicular Pursuit clarification temporary with the amendment that was moved to the emergency looking at general counsel to make sure that there's no issue there Bill 25-386 vulnerable youth guardianship protection temporary Bill 25-358 Public Health Emergency credit alert temporary bill 25-378 school student vaccination temporary pill 25-398 Middle School career exploration pilot temporary Bill 25-382 sexual harassment investigation review temporary with the amendment same amendment that was adopted to the emergency again general counsel will let me know if I need to clarify Bill 25-380 DC water critical infrastructure Freedom of Information clarification temporary Bill 25-392 limited purpose credential that's why we just said no to him you want me to start over here secretary is asking me to start over not going to do it so I'm on page 14. I've already skipped number nine I'm going to skip number 14. um included in this n block motion is Bill 25368 medical cannabis clarification and non-resident patient access temporary Bill 25-396 prioritizing Public Safety temporary with the Amendments that were approved to the emergency Bill 25-370 Department of for higher Vehicles delivery vehicle traffic enforcement expansion temporary Bill 25-384 Walter Reed development assistance temporary short bill 25-390 short-term disability insurance benefit protection clarification temporary and Bill 25-355 floodplain review Authority temporary it's all the temporary bills if anybody objects to our considering block be happy to read each one and have a roll call on each one separately nobody even smiled at that three of them include amendments that were made to the underlying emergencies and on the printed agenda two of them didn't make it to the temporary stage so they're not included any discussion uh Mr chairman Sherman Pro tem if you don't want to be you can move to close debate we can have discussion on the motion to close debate foreign secretary would you call the role this will be on all those temporary councilmember Parker yes councilman repento yes yes councilmember votes he has comes from Parker votes yes councilmember Robert White yes councilmember Robert white boots yes councilmember Treyon White yes councilmember Tran white votes yes councilmember Allen yes councilman boots yes councilmember bonds [Laughter] yes Mr chairman and there are 12 yeses and one absent since we're all getting a little Punchy should I leave a little time in case anybody wants to switch their vote foreign I believe it's 18 measures are approved on first reading unanimously uh sorry everyone but um I think we've come to the end of the meeting and uh our next meeting which will be an additional meeting of September 19th and it also will be a community of the whole and Madam Secretary not that it's important but what's the filing deadline the Thursday before and there'll be a lot of stuff yes the filing deadline will be Thursday before our Tuesday meeting and with a new uh noon noon 1200 noon deadline so with that the time is 5 43 this meanings of Jordan