ready I'm calling to order of this meeting this is an additional meeting of the committee of the whole of the Council of the District of Columbia I'm Phil Mendelson chair of the council and chair of the committee the whole today is Tuesday January 9th 2024 and the time is 1204 in the afternoon and this meeting is being held almost entirely in room 500 of the Johnny Wilson building the council chambers I say almost entirely because I believe there's a council member participating virtually council member gray I see is on the screen good afternoon Mr Gray um this is we have three items well actually we have two items for markup in the committee the whole and then we have I believe its four items that have come through other committees and uh considering the uh schedule for performance oversight hearings then we will move to the legislative meeting uh we begin our committee the whole meetings with determining whether we have a quorum Mr Cash would you call the role chairman Mendon president council member Allen here council member bonds here council member fruman presid council member gray here council member Henderson here council member Le George here council member McDuffy here council member Nido here council member Parker here council member Pinto present council member Robert White present council member Tran white pres Mr chairman you have a form uh thank you Mr Cash as I indicated to members at the breakfast uh I'm going to not move the um sentencing commission nomination today uh so the first item for markup is pr25 d542 the Ombudsman for children Patrina Jones Jaz appointment resolution of 2024 uh this this resolution is this is an appointment by the council and the purpose of the resolution is to appoint Patrina Jones jez as the ud's person for children to serve for a term to end five years after the effective date of this resolution the office of the ud's person for children was created by the council by act in 2020 the ud's person's mandate and that is her title UT's person mandate is to function as an independent office responsible to the council and tasked with improving outcomes for children known as the Child and Family Services Agency known to the Child and Family Services Agency by holding relevant agencies accountable for fulfilling their responsibilities under the law the ud's person for children is appointed by the council um and the U Miss Jones Jaz currently serves as the acting IDs person for children I believe she's been serving for about a year and Al so we've had an opportunity to see how that office that new office has been um achieving or been successful over the past many months um since assuming the role of acting ud's person M chz has continued the work of establishing and solidifying a new agency she's initiated Improvement efforts including the enhancement of the office's database and creating a sophisticated system for tracking constituent complaints and other information under her leadership administrative procedures for entering complaints received in person by phone and email into the database were created and went into effect Miss Jones chz has also hired two additional employees um their roles support the work and mission of the office by providing Frontline service and communication to constituents and conduct in investigations under the direction of the Deputy cfsa Child and Family Services Agency oods person and the acting IDs person she has extens she brings extensive experience as well as a demonstrated commitment to child welfare uh the committee uh let me see I introduced this resolution on November 30th and the committee as the whole held a Roundtable on December 20th uh the T the committee received no testimony or comments in opposition from anyone with regard to this nominee without objection now move both the print and Report with leap for staff to make technical conforming and editorial changes is there discussion Council Lewis George and I should note before you say anything that cfsa comes under the committee that you chair uh because this is a council appointment that's why I'm moving the appointment um so please proceed thank you chairman I truly appreciate working partnership with you and your staff to ensure that the office of the UDS person for children is not only up and running as the independent office that the council unan unanimously voted to establish but that the office has competent caring and knowledgeable leader who can hold agencies accountable for and improve outcomes for the district's children and family I believe that P Patrina Jones jez is that person I first met Patrina after I became chair of facilities and Family Services committee and Patrina was originally hired as the chief Deputy un buds person since March Patrina has been acting un buds person and she has excelled in an office that the council and many Advocates fought to establish despite a number of institutional challenges she set up an office space hired additional analysts and put systems in place to ensure that children and families involved with cfsa are heard and that complaints are properly investigated at a time when many of our children and families are looking for help or looking into understanding child Warfare policies it is vital to have a leader that understands what is at stake there were 537 children in the care of cfsa last year there are various reasons why children and families become involved with cfsa as of 2021 22 States had independent offices dedicated to children in falsa care um I can't help but wonder how the situation may have been different with an independent office like the office of the unb unbs person for children it is important to have some empathetic yet knowledgeable about child welfare policies and Pat Trina's years of experience in the child welfare system and her personal experience as a false parent make me confident that she will be able to work with families the community and agencies to the benefit of children involved with previously or previously involved with or otherwise known to cfsa I look forward to continuing to work with Patrina to ensure children in care and families are heard value and careed for uh thank you again chairman for your work on this thank you council member uh further discussion on this uh the vote is on um both the print and Report with leap for staff I think we can do a voice vote go call let's do a Voice vote let's try something new all those in favor say I I I opposed I don't see or hear any no votes uh the eyes have it unan unanimously Adam General council is the measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is Adam secretary is the record complete once the report and hearing record are filed Madam budget director does the measures fiscal impact statement comply with Council requirements yes it does does it have a fiscal impact no it does not yes usually appointments do not right her budget or her salary hasn't been budgeted uh without objection this measure will be placed on the consent agenda for today's legislative meeting the next measure is uh Bill 25- 350 MacArthur High School designation Act of 2024 the purpose of this legislation is to officially designate the school on lot 899 and square 1356 that's off of MacArthur Boulevard at Q Street to name it as MacArthur High School uh the this is an official naming uh looking at the report the proposed designation namesake is MacArthur Boulevard the school is being named after the place where it is on which the school is located the District of Columbia Public Schools conducted a public online survey to solicit school name nominations for the district's newest public high school it opened this past fall and has been operating unofficially under the name of MacArthur High School um more than 540 community members participated and MacArthur High School received the most report many respondents indicated that the name should continue because it was what the previous school had been called for many years and because the name was for its location rather than for an individual that was the feedback that we got from the survey uh the legislation was introduced at the end of June I think there was a hope that would be adopted before the start of the school year except we had recess um the committee of the whole held a public hearing on November 28 at which there were two witnesses uh one who was opposed and the other representing DCPS uh other than that I believe the committee has received no testimony or comments and opposition is that correct um I'm going to move both the print and Report with leaf for staff uh to make technical conforming and editorial changes I do want to say a little bit more in light of discussion at the breakfast this morning uh what I have found over and over again is that when we name a building a street a place after a person that often these folks are not perfect people this is actually named after the street although some would say well but the Street's named after a person um I think we have to be reflective of the Nom of the naming process and in this case the uh DCPS Community made clear for quite some time it was probably going to be named MacArthur school and then there was this process that involved the public H followed by the hearing that we had that was very supportive of this name uh the school's been operating under this name now for roughly four or five months and um I would just ask that members be reflective of uh what their view is on this and the effect on the process so I move the print and Report with leave per staff as I said is there a discussion all right I just ask that be this be placed on a non-consent agenda okay and I will speak to it at the ledge meeting all right um if there's council member NAD yeah I just have one question about um School naming procedure um so we seem to not have hearings and voting on every school renaming is that right no that's not correct we have a hearing on every bill yeah every street naming or excuse me every school naming is a bill okay and um you know I didn't make a list but I was trying to remember this morning we've in the last couple years named Jackson Reed John Lewis Shirley Chisum uh Lorraine Whitlock it's one of them I'm forgetting uh Ida B Wells and every one of those had a hearing what's the history of Council council's role in naming schools um in every one of those instances except Jackson Reed um legislation was introduced until this no no Chisum which we just acted on I think final reading is today today until Chisum and and MacArthur the uh bills were introduced at the request of the mayor okay um the ones that have been introduced by at the request of the mayor as well as Chisum and MacArthur there was an extensive process with the community uh Jackson Reed was a little bit of an exception but on that one um I ended up having multiple hearings okay thank you for that appreciate it there's no further discussion um by a Voice vote with members who are voting no asking to be recorded as voting no all those in favor print Report with leaf for staff say I I iOS please record me as no council member McDuffy and council member Lewis George please record me as no as well thank you and counc will pleas woman is present yes Mr chairman please record me as no council member Parker I'm just making a note so council member Parker that was you who just spoke very quietly down at that end of the days and council member Parker council member McDuffy council member Lewis George council member Nido recorded as voting no council member Tran white recorded as present the measure is approved Madame Federal council is the measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is Madam Secretary is the record complete once the report is filed M budget director does measure fiscal impact statement comply with Council requirements yes it does have a fiscal impact it does not okay this measure will be placed on the non-consent agenda I think it's listed on consent but it will be taken off of consent uh that concludes the um items for markup in the committee of the whole uh measures from other committees the first is Bill 25425 strengthening traffic enforcement education and responsibility Amendment Act of 2023 reported out of the committee on transportation and the environment council member Alan thank you very much Mr chairman Bill 25425 the strengthening traffic Enforcement Education responsibility or steer Amendment Act of 2024 is a major reform to our traffic enforcement system that will empower the district to help get dangerous drivers off our roads before turning to what the bill does I'd like to First reflect on the failures of our current traffic enforcement system the district experienced 52 traffic fatalities in 2023 that's 17 more than the previous year and nearly twice as many deaths as we experienced in 2014 when the vision zero pledge to eliminate all traffic futilities was first made by the mayor this level of traffic violence is due in part to the sheer volume of speeding and dangerous driving that is happening in the district for example the automated traffic enforcement or at system alone captured 1.2 million instances of speeding last year one might think that behind each of those tickets though is a successful intervention a driver sped they received a ticket they paid a fine for that violation they modifi their behavior to avoid another ticket in the future and if one thinks that unfortunately they'd be wrong in fact data from the DMV shows there are over 27,000 people who owe more than $5,000 in unpaid citations there's nearly 400 people that owe more than $25,000 in unpaid citations there's one driver from Maryland that owes a mindboggling $186,000 in unpaid fines important to note here that all told less than 10% of all outstanding citations were issued to vehicles with District of Columbia tags so how will the bill before us change things perhaps most significantly the bill will allow the district's attorney general to sue drivers who have demonstrated histories of dangerous driving and can seek payment for outstanding tickets IM mobilization of their vehicle the suspension of driving privileges importantly this new system of accountability does not require a long-desired but un unfulfilled reciprocity agreement with Virginia or Maryland instead a court order issued by the DC Superior Court can be enforced against drivers in all states and jurisdictions to the US con through the US Constitution's Full Faith and Credit Clause and once implemented this will be one of the only enforcement tools that applies equally to both District residents and outof state residents the bill also establishes a new immobilization framework to run in parallel with the DMV's current point system under the DMV's current point system drivers who accumulate a certain number of points can have their licenses suspended or revoked under the immobilization framework created by the bill DPW can you guessed it immobil Iz Vehicles against which a certain number of points have been assessed and because the immobilization framework looks only at the number and severity of traffic infractions over a six-month window and does not consider where the associated fines were paid or unpaid the immobilization framework is narrowly focused on dangerous driving behavior and does not impose additional consequences on someone due to an inability to pay Their fines or ignore their dangerous driving simply because they are able to afford Their fines the bill also clarifies existing code Provisions governing the suspension of driver's licenses and registrations based on certain criminal convictions such as negligent homicide Mr chairman if I can to have 30 more seconds without objection moreover the bill establishes new requirements that individuals must meet to have their driving privileges reinstated after such a suspension for example the bill requires that a driver enroll in the newly established intelligent speed assistance program if their license was suspended based on a conviction involving excessive speeding this new program will install speed Governors and a person's car that limits the vehicle speed based on the applicable speed limit it's modeled after a very successful ignition interlock program this new program allows a driver to maintain driving privileges while ensuring they can only operate their vehicle in a way that will no longer endanger other drivers pedestrians and residents Additionally the bill creates new reporting requirements between the DMV oag and the superior court regarding DUI convictions and the resulting license suspensions that is in response to data sharing issues that were uncovered through oversight by our committee and the council in the aftermath of the Rock Creek Park Collision that killed three people last year the bill also requires MPD to notify DT when a car has been stolen so that does not issue at citations to a stolen car until it's been recovered for someone who has had a car stolen it's frustrating to also receive a ticket in the mail and have to spend time and energy appealing speeding tickets that the thieves accumulated and finally the bill allows the DMV to wave fines for traffic infractions based on participation in and completion of safe driving courses specifically the DMV can wave up to $100 in fines for each hour of participation capped at $500 per year the bill also requires that a person complete that class before having their vehicle released from immobilization for tickets that have already been paid together I think this bill represents a package of reforms that will establish true accountability regardless of ability to pay for Dangerous driving and make streets safer for all ra roadway users I also want to specifically uh thank Council M Christina Henderson and Council Brianne noo for their partnership on working a lot of these ideas and the partnership with our committee uh thank you Mr chairman with that I will move the bill at the legislative meeting I will be moving an amendment in the nature of a substitute and I'm happy to speak to that then and I'm stalling to give you a chance to finish your ation you're doing an excellent job council member Allen other questions from Members council member Nido thank you um council member Allen would you agree that the point system in the committee print that prioritizes booting and towing towards the most dangerous offenses would result in fewer residents getting their vehicles impounded for failure to pay occasional parking tickets or oneoff a violations that would be 100% correct wonderful I look forward to supporting this measure thank you Mr chairman council member Tran white thank you I wanted to have a few on the record questions council member Allen what constitutes one as a dangerous driver do you mean for the immobilization framework yes uh because there's some Provisions that will stop you from driving or getting a device put on your car if you consider a dangerous driver correct so uh somebody who drives a car repeatedly at excessive speeds would be a dangerous driver under this framework uh if you were drive if you have uh citations of let's say up to 15 miles per hour five times in a six-month period so you are repeatedly doing this 10 times within one year you say up to 15 up to 11 to 15 miles per hour correct also if you're convicted of aggravated reckless driving for example um a very serious conviction for dangerous dangerous driving thank you and I have an additional question um you you talked about uh this device uh what is the vision of this device if uh approved and how would this work on cars and how DC implement this device putting on people's cars sure and just to make sure I'm clear when you say device do you mean the um the imization you said there was gonna be some immobilization device there's the immobilization program I think do you mean the intelligent speed device device you you so it it was my understanding there was going to be some type of device that was implemented during this bill um yes so and correct me if I'm not answering what you're asking but the legislation proposed creating essentially a pilot program to create a uh speed device think of it like a speed Governor uh it's something we have on vehicles that are in the district already other states have been piloting this so for individuals that um are convicted of these excessive and egregious speeding um you can inst install that on the on the vehicle it would work in the same way that other speed Governors work in that you cannot speed so it preserves someone's ability to have access to their vehicle and drive it but it caps out essentially the speed with which they can re they can achieve thank you and I know in the so is this voluntarily that we get this device will be mandated mandated by the district after you uh violate certain amount of times how do you who who qualifies to get this device put on that vehicle let me make I want to make sure I answer you correctly so hang on one second while I grab that and while you're doing that I just want to say this uh councilman Allen um I've seen a number of speeding tickets uh erected in the district over the last year in fact I think read something in our budget last year the DC purchased over 300 new devices um and I'm noticing a lot of these ticket speeding cameras are on a decline in certain areas and 11 miles per hour is one of the measures of speeding so trying to figure out you know how this is going to be implemented as far as keeping because the notion in your in your in your writing you said that there was essentially no consequences for those who are speeding and especially with those who have money and I think that I don't I don't personally believe that I believe that DC has a number of consequences um where you can get tickets you can get booted you can get towed you can get your whole car taken and that has happened even to the magnitude that DC's impound lot is overcrowded where they have nowhere else to put in cars because there too many cars there um and a lot of people who have these cars told are paying notes so they have the a car note and a car taken so the notion that there are no tickets I mean there are no consequences I don't know that is accurate or not I've heard a few members say they've heard that from the public um so if after you answer if you can speak to that that'll be helpful sure um well I'll answer that part first and then get back to the um the speed assist so we've got a driver who owes the district $186,000 we've got drivers that are racking up egregious excessive repeated speeding violations over and over and over again and there are no consequences and so that is a major factor of what's happening I think I also look at the measure of how we determine the metrics of our own safe Street safety in our community um how many parents out there are trying to walk their kids to school white knuckled their get across the street let me try to answer your question okay so the way that we measure our Safe Streets is not just going to be 17 more people that died on our streets this year compared to last year here it's also going to be looking at how our neighbors and our residents feel trying to just walk around our neighborhood I think people understand crossing the street feels a lot more dangerous and is more dangerous because of the excessive speeding we've seen so your question though about the uh the the program or the device you were talking about this is only for the ISA program is for people whose license was suspended due to a criminal conviction and this would be a new condition of that reinstatement it works very similarly if you're familiar with the way in which after a DUI conviction there might ignition interlock right and the idea behind that is to as part of that action preserve the ability for people who are going to need to have a vehicle but also have safety measures that are put in place and so we're talking about in this case uh piloting this program where an individual who is convicted criminally of this excessive aggravated dangerous driving would then be able to uh still have their vehicle which a lot of people probably wouldn't want them to have but be able to have use technology in a way that helps make sure we have that type of speed governor and assist there thank you and I I heard this the data that you reflected on of people with these outstanding tickets it is is it a fact that most of not even most just's say over 70% of these individuals that you were talking talking about with these high numbers are Virginia and Maryland residents according to the data the DMV has provided us DC tags make up about 10% 90% is GNA certainly a large share of that would be Virginia and Maryland but when we look at the data the DMV has provided a significant amount of that are other states as well from the area but this legislation speaks to DC residents as well correct well from a legal perspective we have to have a fair system that applies to everything but the system we have currently and I know you've talked about um consequences so especially for drivers who are not from the district we don't have really any tools we do not have reciprocity ticket reciprocity my point will be ability for us to now evenly and fairly um no matter where you live be able to have a stronger accountability that's my point because what I noticed is that uh we create this legislation legislation like this with good intent um because we do want to make sure our roads are safe but the bulk of that falls on DC residents who become unable to drive uh who and I don't know so when they say when we say there no consequences we leave out the part that they can't register VIs anymore correct I didn't hear the last part they can't register the vehicles anymore if they have these outstanding tickets can the can a DC resident yeah register their vehicle in the district yeah we changed the law a couple years ago that allow somebody whether they're paid or unpaid to be able to renew is that what you mean renew their license I'm talking about registered vehicle I think it's the same but to the point of your consequences it is I agree with you it is the district residence that bear the undue uh weight of the consequences of a completely failed system of accountability and safe driving that's the system we got today and this is going to change that so it's my understanding that if you have these outstanding tickets that you can't renew your vehicle um so that is a consequence because you just can't keep driving if you can't renew your vehicle um and that's going to fall on DC residence while while Maryland and Virginia uh drivers get to continue with the same behavior um and in fact uh it it is known that a lot of people who are in DC that had this problem got Virginia tags and driving freely throughout the district no insurance hitting people's cars it just the unintended consequences that we don't see is that uh people are choosing alternative measures to get TXS which is wrong um but those who don't have the money on turn bring all the other Alternatives that may not be necessarily the unended the unintended consequences of a failed traffic enforcement system that we got today weighs heavy on the District of Columbia and our residents absolutely I don't know um if it'd be appropriate Mr McDuffy I don't know if you could clarify on some of the Clean Hands language that we had passed uh to address uh councelor White's question but um the the system we've got today is failing us it's making our streets less safe uh and I think that this legislation is going to go a long way to fix that and create a fair system thank you council member white there was somebody over on my right side of the de who also wanted to be recognized council member Henderson um yes Mr chairman I I wanted to ask council member Allen about the fists for this bill um we don't often get revised fistes from the ocfo so I was wondering if you could share a little bit about um what caused the number to drop um so precipitously but also if you can speak to um where um applicability section or applicability language has been added such that the whole bill is not prevented from moving forward thank you um so yes we did receive a revised fiscal impact statement today uh which reduced the overall cost by over 50 million dollar so that is significant um a large amount of that is uh specific to the reduction in the expectation of foregone traffic tickets and revenue um and so it's been Revis down significantly which I think is also uh I appreciate continuing to work with CFO and work with our agency partners to get to that um when we got the first fiscal impact I think we just simply didn't believe it um we have had conversations with the budget office about ensuring that as the legislation moves uh to its Final Phase that there is the uh applicability for each of that um and there and I'll note as well there's only one component that can be absorbed thus far that's NPD transmitting notice of stolen vehicles and tags so so that component depend um that component depends on the other funded components but we've had conversations with the budget officer ensuring the um uh budget applicability thank you point of clarity uh or just a question Council Allen because I read that this bill will cost $123 million in four years are you saying that that is broken up or in some such a way would that would not happen all in once so the revised fiscal impact reduced that by $50 million so it's significantly less than that and then certain portions cost more than others so obviously us uh allowing DC residents uh and others to wave fines essentially not having to pay the financial cost because at the end of the day our goal actually should not be about Revenue it should be about changing behavior in safer streets so if we're going to be able to say you do not have to actually pay that cost we want you to take that class we want you to work that that costs us money and so that's a large amount of what's reflected in the remaining fist but it's only $100 per hour up to five hours is that accurate so we'd be giving everybody $500 a year off speeding tickets and um council member uh pinto and I was discussing this if you can tell us in practicality how that how that works because if if the DMV has set up operation for people to come in and take this class it's open daily um and I know we set laws to have good intentions but you know how it go uh they don't have people set up they don't have a space set up and it's backlog they got to get on the calendar and I'm I'm a little Li about what happens in the weit time that you got these tickets accumulating every day what you got to pay at least $25 a day that your car is impounded or not picked up including Saturdays and Sundays when they're closed um how do it affect you getting these hours to get this $500 yeah well I agree with you and I hope that people would keep that in mind and be worried about accumulating those costs because the simplest way to avoid any of those costs would be to drive safely and drive the speed limit because you never have to accumulate any amount of costs um but the idea is the agency as we've worked with them and I appreciate DMV um and uh DPW and DT and all the agencies been a part of this the idea would be that when if you have accumulated that many dangerous driving tickets over and over and over again if you then go into this space and your vehicle has been immobilized you're able to go and that the system would be set up that you go and you take that class to be able to work on being a better and safer driver yeah and can you send out the new fist because I don't I haven't seen that I think it's circulated million what time it was circulated this morning was it circulated by the CFO believe it was circulated by the CFO this morning to everybody 919 amm is what I'm told council member Pinto for questions and counc did you want to be recognized after council member Pinto thank you Mr chairman um thank you so much council member Allen for moving this bill today a couple questions even with the $50 million reduction once you account for the revenue that will be offset why is DMV suggesting that this point system will be so expensive because you won't have to pay $500 worth of your speeding tickets if you take the class and so because they build out a model that assumes that Revenue would be coming in to eliminate that Revenue costs money and so um that's why that costs so much and how did you all come up with the $500 numers the rights cut off uh looking at the amount of fines and trying to find a way that was responsive to what I think is a reasonable amount of um findes that someone might collect but also not create just an open-ended tally like I there is no scenario where I think we should ever uh forgive $186,000 worth of speeding tickets and I think you would agree um so trying to find a a landing spot where a reasonable amount but also if you're somebody that's got $220,000 worth of speeding tickets and violations I cannot in good conscience ask the taxpayers to cover that if we're looking for a a more fair system though that recognizes that we're going to see some some bad behavior that we want to correct then creating a cap I think is the right way to go thank you and then I just want to ask about speed limits because this has come up a number of times today do you know how dot comes up with speed limits or some of the education that that they are engaged with to educate drivers of what those limits are um I am not an expert on every aspect of that but I do know that the dep Department of Transportation is going to look to the Federal Department of Transportation standards that align on which roads roads are in their language which are arterial roads minor major and they have designations for each Road and Street in our city and then there are standards that are applied as to which are the applicable speed limits that go to each one of those and so uh they don't have for example um if any one of us felt like hey I'd love to change that speed limit on that block by five or 10 miles per hour they don't have the ability to just do that on their own they have to look to those standards and the policies that are set well thank you so much I think that's a really important Point as we I've heard a couple comments today and earlier this morning about the limit and if you're only going 10 or 15 miles over the limit but the speed limit is the limit the limit um that you can drive we can all Drive less than the limit um and the limit is the highest maximum allowable that we can go um and in excess of that is violating the law uh so lastly do you think this is probably the single-handed most effective way that the council has acted in recent years that will improve the dangerous driving we're seeing on our streets was a well-timed question um I think this is a absolutely major reform that is responsive to the failures of our system that we've seen I think uh collection of legislation this Council has passed previously to focus on Vision zero that unfortunately still isn't implemented uh is important I think this will make an incredible meaningful and immediate impact on that um I also think of course designing our roadways and intersections to be safer is a major part of this and so um often times people talk about the three e um that you've got to have the type of enforcement that you need you got to have the right type of education to drivers that you need and you also have to have the right type of maybe I didn't use the my ease you have to have the right type of engineering uh and design for streets thanks Matt fuman coun Froman thank you very much chairman Mendon thank you uh council member alen for your work on this on the fist uh as I recall the fist did not take into account any potential Revenue that might be achieved through the ogag civil suits is that still the case and if so how much money is theoretically recoverable we won't recover all of that but um how much money is theoretically recoverable um yes you're 100% correct in that uh and I say this with uh sincerity I appreciate the hard work of the CFO to to help do this as well as their openness to look at get more information and try to and provide a revision here uh but the CFO frequently does not include revenue from something like this so it does not include any Revenue that would come in that the AG's office would collect um and so that would obviously uh bring the overall fist down but it's I think it to be fair to the CFO it is difficult to help predict exactly what that would be um the if you were to ask me you know how much would it be I just I don't think we can know for certain because it'll also depend on factors such as um how many attorneys does the Attorney General have working on these case which cases are they moving forward so it's just really hard to predict but it it will undoubtedly create a mechanism by which we start to recover some of those funds as well as for the first time create a accountability that applies not just to the district residents but to Virginia and to Maryland and everybody else no I hear you and I wasn't asking you to predict how much might be recovered but I I wonder how big that pot is theoretically how much money could the AG be pursuing I think um again if we think about um what we are looking at in terms of just our the experience we have thus far um when we have 27,000 people that have over $5,000 worth of unpaid speeding violations when we have 400 people with more than $25,000 when we have the $186,000 example um that adds up to significant um funds I just could never be in a position right now to predict what that exact dollar amount would be council member bonds all right well thank you um to um council member Allen just wondered a little bit about how how this device that is placed on the vehicle operates and what I am trying to understand would it be operational exclusive to inside DC let's say Square radius or something and what happens when you have to take your car on the highway you're driving down to Florida God forbid but you're driv driving there and speed limit is 65 I'm I'm just trying to understand what would happen with this device on your vehicle sure um so we have devices already in the district uh where there's that type of device like a a speed Governor that uses technology and geolocation to know where you are where you can go and how fast you can go so it caps out and stops you at a certain speed um this is modeled somewhat after some Pilots that have been working in New York so New York State they've had a very successful model where they installed a similar device on for example their public Fleet and so the way it would work is that when you're on the interstate let's say your speed limit there is 55 or 65 miles per hour then your vehicle can go 55 65 miles per hour when you're on a neighborhood street where it's 25 miles per hour then your vehicle can go 25 miles per hour um so it uses the technology and so they these devices already exist and are in practice in other places so this will be the first time we're using it here um which is why I also think we want to let DMV help design what it would look like um defer a good amount to the agency to work in partnership with them to help create that um but that I hope answers the question around how that would be intended to work it it it really does it just you know made me wonder how this device would be um would work and be monitored so thank you very much for that thanks there no further questions on the consent agenda no it's not on the consent agenda actually I have three questions mam General council is the measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is mam secretary's record complete yes it is madam budget director does the measures fiscal impact statement comply with counil requirements uh yes it does and as discussed on the day it does have a fiscal impact according to the revised fiscal impact the cost is $1.5 million in FY 24 and just over over $77 million um over the four-year plan all right um there is an amendment nature for a substitute if I remember correctly so this will be on the non-consent agenda for today's legislative meeting I'm signed I hope that the lengthy questioning is not a harbinger of how long we're going to spend at the legislative meetings the next three measures were reported out of the Committee on Public Works and operations ched by council member Brianne NAD the first is Bill 25-5 Uniform Commercial Code Amendment Act of 2023 council member n do thank you chairman bill 25-5 was introduced on January 3rd by you chairman mson at the request of the uniform law commission the purpose of the bill is to make a number of amendments to the district's codification of the Uniform Commercial Code namely the Amendments at a new article 12 named controllable electronic records which provides rules for transactions involving digital assets including cryptocurrency non-fungible tokens and electronic promises to pay the uniform commercial code is a set of rules that facilitates Commerce throughout the United States it's been adopted in nearly identical form by every us jurisdiction to ensure that the laws governing the transactions are substantially the same no matter where you are in the country the UCC is updated periodically to keep Pace with legal and technological developments this latest set of amendments will ensure that the UCC continues to facilitate and adequately govern commercial activity by taking new and emerging Technologies into account the full set of amendments will classify non-governmental cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and similar blockchainbased assets into a new category of personal property called controllable electronic records owners of these digital assets and lenders taking these digital assets as collateral will benefit from new rules designed to allow their greater integration into commercial markets without restricting their use to particular purpose the committee print made only technical changes to the bill and the Committee on Public Works voted unanimously to approve the committee print and report on December 21st thank you and with that I request that this measure be placed on the consent agenda for the legislative meeting to follow thank you council member Nido are there questions council member Henderson thank you Mr chairman um thank you council member Nido for presenting on this legislation I know it's a uniform law um I was just curious given that it's dealing with digital assets um whether or not uh the Department of Insurance Securities and banking was consulted um on the measure even though it wasn't referred to that committee not that we're aware um and then the the representative that we have on the uniform law Commission is um is oag so I think they probably do that work but not that we're aware of okay thank you yeah um what did you mean by the representative we have on the ulc sorry we also have a representative but the oag rep our general Council the um there's an attorney not from o o a although that's where he we have many qualified attorneys serving there that represent our government correct I think it's five am I correct I'll just stop now thank you did you have anything else CER Henderson any other questions from Members Adam General council is to measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is madam secretary's record complete yes it is madam budget director does the measures fiscal impact statement uh comply with Council requirements yes it does any fiscal impact there is no fiscal impact without objection this measure will be placed on the consent agenda for today's legislative meeting Bill 25282 housing subsidy contract stabilization Amendment Act of 2023 council do thank you chairman bill 25282 was introduced on May 1st 2023 by Council Me by myself council member gray and council member leis George because it deals directly with Contracting and solicitation procedures it was referred to the Committee on Public Works and operations with comments from the committee on housing on May 16 2023 the committee held a hearing on this legislation on October 25th 2023 there are two very similar acronyms I'll be using when discussing this bill lrsp is the local rent sub subsidy program effectively this is the district's local version of the federal housing Choice voucher program the way that housing authority manages lrsp funding is with a long-term subsidy contract or ltsc lrsp is one of the most important subsidies we have have for creating and supporting deeply affordable housing including permanent Supportive Housing lrsp was established and fully operational by 2007 as a result many of the first 15-year contracts are coming up for Renewal many affordable housing owners and operators reaching the end of their initial contract term can opt for the built-in five-year extension without consequence however the same is not true for affordable housing projects looking to refinance and make improvements to a property or otherwise preserve deeply affordable housing in almost every case lrsp is not the sole financing source of a property a project undergoing refinancing needs to line up on other resources and it's extremely challenging if not impossible to secure the rest of this financing if a significant source of subsidy can only be guaranteed for an additional five years well out of sync with the terms of those other sources because all ltsc are by definition multi-year contracts if the Housing Authority would like to renew subsidy for longer than a 5year extension current law would require that the contracts be competitively rebid this puts projects in need of lrsp for refinancing as well as dcha in a challenging and unintuitive position with the possibility of a competitively bid contract being awarded to a different provider and thus different units of housing entirely put simply the solicitation in contract procedures that apply to services or Goods procured do not neatly apply to housing accommodations our current law could jeopardize the long-term housing security of extremely low-income tenants already living in lrsp units the committee print makes a few changes compared to the bill is introduced the most substantive of which is extending the maximum allowable term for an ltsc from 15 to 20 years or whatever HUD currently allows for federal vouchers lrsp was meant to closely mirror the Section 8 program rules but since since 2007 their contract terms have gotten out of sync this will ensure that doesn't happen again the remainder of the committee print changes are to ensure that the bill achieves its intent while the bill as introduced amended only the procurement practices Reform Act the print amends both the PPR and the specific code sections governing lrsp to ensure continuity across the code thank you and with that I request this measure be placed on the consent agenda for the legislative meeting to follow thank you are there questions from Members Madam General council is to measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is mam secretary is the record complete yes it is mam budget director does the measure's fiscal impact statement comply with Council requirements yes it does no cost without objection this measure will be placed on the consent agenda for today's legislative meeting bill 25412 liter control Amendment Act of 2023 council berado do thank you chairman Bill 25-41 two was introduced on June 30th 2023 by chairman medson at the request of the mayor and the Committee on Public Works and operations held a hearing on October 19th the measure amends DC's official code to provide the Department of Public Works the ability to serve a party cited for infraction of the litter control Administration Act of 1985 with a notice of violation via first class mail it also provides that when such Services by first class mail five additional days must be added to the time period within which the party cited May or is required to take any actions specified in the notice of violation finally the bill codifies dpw's existing Authority as determined by ogag to inspect and investigate a residential premises for an alleged nuisance as there's currently no language in the code regarding dpw's authority to inspect an alleged nuisance at a residential premises committee print made several minor technical edits to the bill as well as clarified that any DPW inspection or investigation of a residential premises may only occur from common areas at that premises the committee received no comments or testimony in opposition to the bill and voted unanimously to approve the committee print and report on December 21st with that I request the measure be placed on the consent agenda for the legislative meeting to follow counc um chairman with that I request the measure be placed on the consent agenda for the legislative meeting to follow thank you other questions from Members mam General councel is to measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is Madam Secretary is the record complete yes it is madam budget director does the measures fiscal impact statement comply with Council requirements uh yes it does and there is no fiscal impact to this measure thank you without objection this measure will be placed on the consent agenda for today's legislative meeting uh the last item on our agenda is consideration of the schedule for public oversight hearings on fiscal year 2023 24 agency performance and expenditures the schedule was circulated with the agenda uh it has been compiled by the budget office working with the uh committees um as you know there will be some changes made to this as we go through the four five six weeks of these hearings and those so this schedule will be published online I believe on the Council budget director's website also on the council's website which is www.dc.gov and then as there are changes that also should be published where the schedule's otherwise published Madam budget director do you want to say something it's also published in the register and it will be published in the register yeah I'm told it be put on HMS by the committee soon HMS is the hearing management system if one goes to the council's website you have if you click on I believe it's hearings hearings you get a choice of HMS which is hearing management system which is a new way of managing our hearings where all the testimon is going to be uh the ability for the public to sign up the print is awfully small but uh it's all here any comments from Members this is not something we vote on but this is something that is here uh and if uh members have a comment right now this is the opportunity or we will move to adjourn all right there being no further business um we will us know the assistant secretary is so hard on me uh we will start the legislative meeting at 1:10 the time is one o'clock and this meeting's adjurned Madam Secretary would you make sure the members areum call for the members quum call for the members two three four quum call for the members do we need Madam Secretary do we need to get the Marshalls round up the members no but I might I almost died why uh Mr assistant secretary you rounding up members one two three four five six six seven seven Madam Secretary you ready Madam Secretary you ready I'm feeling huge pressure we got seven you ready Charles are you okay if we start I'm calling to order this meeting this is a regular meeting of the Council of the District of Columbia I'm Phil mendleson chair of the council today is Tuesday January 9th 2024 the time is 1:12 in the afternoon uh this meeting is being held in person in room 500 the council chambers of the Johnny Wilson building although I believe there's at least uh three members who are participating virtually um we always begin our meetings with a moment of reflection I want to first though recognize council member Charles Allen thank you Mr chair um I think there a lot of folks know this weekend um longtime Council staffer and um my committee director for the transportation environment committee Chris lowski passed away unexpectedly um I want to thank my colleagues and Council staff um for your condolences for your kind words it is a heartbreaking loss um for me and my team I mean for the council for the city and of course for his family um Chris was intelligent kind warm witty um and just an inspiring part of my team an inspiring part of our community um and I know with so many Community Partners that he worked with um and partnered with um I appreciate your words and emails and notes that you've sent as well um and I appreciate you give me a moment uh just in this time to to just share that and um would ask that everybody as you take your moment of of silence and reflection and the people and the causes that you're going to hold in that moment that you please add Chris but also his wife Ellison his son Malcolm and his wife and his daughter Marin um and hold them in that moment as well as I will thank you Mr chairman uh thank you if we could have silence please uh thank you uh I do want to add this um you know we are a Council of 13 different legislators 13 different offices the central offices the 13 of us like to from time to time disagree with each other but in a sense we're a family and it's worth uh Rec recognizing that uh with that Madam Secretary would you please call the role counc member Allen here council member bonds here council member Freeman here council member gray here council member Henderson here council member Lewis George here council member McDuffy here chairman mson presentent council member nadell here council member Parker here council member Pinto pres Council Robert White pres council member Tran White presence Mr chairman you have uh thank you Madam Secretary the first item of business is uh committee reports and the secretary's report I'll recognize the chair Mr McDuffy thank you Mr chairman I will move to wave the reading of the secretary's report put a motion to wave the reading of the report is our discussion on the motion to wave the reading all those in favor say I I that was a little are there any no votes don't hear any no votes the motion carries we also have the secretary's report of introductions uh introductions and referrals again recognize of chort 10 McDuffy and I will move to raave the reading of the secretary's report of introductions and referrals it's been a motion to wave the reading is there discussion on the motion all those in favor say I I I are there any opposed I don't hear any opposed uh the motion carries we have the consent agenda uh I'm going to ask if there are any changes to the consent agenda um there are [Music] two that I know of on page two item C1 at the bottom Bill 25- 350 MacArthur High School designation Act is taken off of consent and on page four item E1 reading and vote on proposed resolutions PR 25-57 that was not moved in the committee of the whole so it's not on the agenda are there any other changes to the consent agenda I'm not hearing from anyone any changes to the consent agenda I'll repeat again there two measures that are removed uh MacArthur High School and not even on the agenda is uh Joel Caston today if there are no other changes we have the consent agenda before us and I believe three members participating virtually so Madame secretary if you would call the role counc madell Park yes council member Parker votes yes council member Pinto yes council member Pinto votes yes council member Robert White yes council member Robert White votes yes council member Tran white yes council member Tron white votes yes council member Allen yes council member Allen votes yes council member bonds yes council member bonds votes yes council member fuman yes council member fuman votes yes council member gray yes council member gray votes yes council member Henderson yes council member Henderson votes yes counc member L George yes counc member leis George votes yes council member McDuffy yes counc member McDuffy votes yes chairman mson yes chairman melon votes yes council member n yes council member n votes yes Mr chairman there are 13 yeses uh the consent agenda is approved unanimously uh Bill 25- 350 MacArthur High School resignation Act of 2024 uh this was marked up in the committee of the whole I spoke to it then so moved discussion we have the bill before us uh we'll do a oh sorry th leis George I'd like to be recognized what we talking about MacArthur did you call from MacArthur yes okay yes I want it to be recognized actually I called you but what's on the floor is MacArthur okay okay thank you did you want to speak to it or oh yes I did want to speak to it I didn't know if that's where we were okay um uh chairman I wanted to speak um I'm voting against this bill because I can't support naming one of our outstanding high schools after uh an individual with a a very troubling um racist pass uh while I understanded desire for the continuity of name and the idea that the name is for the location and not the person neither of those erased in names indivis indivisible connection with general Douglas MacArthur a controversial military figure with the long history of racist Behavior towards black soldiers Douglas mix Arthur actively worked to obstruct President Truman's plans to integrate the United States Army in addition ther Marshall went to Japan in 1951 in order to investigate irregularities in the Court's uh Marshall of dozens of black uh soldiers under mcauthur um I think it's important as we take this opportunity as as a city we've done an amazing job of writing the wrongs of the past renaming some of our most beloved institutions uh many of us knew Wilson High School for those who grew up here it was an institution for years and people said it's Wilson tigers and we can't rename them uh but we as a city boldly said no we are going to rename this school to Jackson Reed and it has since um excelled and and lived up to the legacy of many of its Al alumni and alma mater uh so continuity was a issue there much deeper than the one year that this school has been operating um in which which we stepped out and said this was something different um my grandfather served in the war he is buried uh at Arlington Cemetery uh Canon Martin um and so many other black soldiers who served this country and fought in wars and we talk about our veterans and we talk about love for this country I think we a school should be named after someone um who doesn't have this history or connection uh to mistreatment of black soldiers um and so uh I think it would be more appropriate for the school to be named after figure who is an inspiration or role model for its Community um it's not the first time we've some people said you know let's not wait to the end of this Dr frer who's the vice president and award for state representative of the board of education has been a part of this process and has has voiced this even including in the um during the hearing that was had um and and talked about let's doing this this is what we'll be doing later today by changing the name of an elementary school from John Tyler to Shirley Chisum um and this is what we should be doing with this high school and we can and should do better than Douglas McArthur for our students um and for our black veterans and soldiers thank you thank you council member uh further on this just moment council member fuman thank you very much chairman Merson and thank you council member Le George for for your comments a an effort was made here actually to very explicitly not say this is Douglas MacArthur High School but name it after the place not the person and be clear about that in a certain way that's sort of a dig at Douglas MacArthur the continuity uh argument is it it is different than in the Jackson Reed setting in that this is a brand new school that doesn't yet have a community or a full community uh when the process was done I think uh council member Henderson spoke to the fact that 500 people responded and it's going to be a school of 800 students so someday it's going to have a full community today it actually does not yet and also we tried to do this to get this done the naming before the start of the school year where money had to be spent in order to get uniforms to to paint the floor of the gym to do different kinds of things it's a building that's in the middle of a process there's going to be a major addition added and grades will be added in each year we're trying to get this school to succeed and to have some familiarity and to track students and I think rejecting the name that was chosen by the community such as it is at this point hurts that school and and uh and undermines the effort to get it on its feet and successful now could a day come where we have 800 students in the school it's a full community and we went back to the school and urged the school to reconsider the name and and if a choice was made that was different DCPS funded the changes for the rebranding which I understand that they would do if any school Community asks to be renamed that's a process that can be done we can do that sort of thing but I don't think at this last minute while we're in the middle of the school year when money has been spent in order to get to where we are that we should reject this name we can revisit it at another time in the future nobody should think that there is anybody out there who's saying let's use this name because we want to honor Douglas MacArthur quite the contrary we're very clear it's not about Douglas MacArthur but it is about helping a school get on its feet and Redeeming the investment that's been made uh further on the uh bill um I don't want to stimulate more debate so I could keep quiet but I do want to say this right now the school officially does not have a name it just doesn't and if we were to vote no then there's a question about whether it's un official name would even be appropriate I think it might make sense I think it makes sense to go forward with this but it might make sense to also say to the community hey uh you might want to rethink this and um so that we have they have something going forward and at the same time they could look at this in light of the issues that council member Lewis George has brought out there's no further discussion we'll have a roll call vote on this thank you um Mr chair Council mbns um thank you I I was just wondering u based on your um last comment if um this is an issue that we want to rethink um even at the DI level and so should we um postpone voting on this for some time I don't think so because the part of what I was saying and maybe not very well is right now the school doesn't have an official name and that really ought to be resolved and my sense of student bodies in District of Columbia schools is they get um sensitive in a right way about issues such as what council member Lewis George has brought up and uh so I think that it's possible I'm not going to say for certain it would happen but possible that that school Community would want to think about this some more so they go forward with an official name because right now they don't have one and um they um address this further so I'm standing by the the bill that uh was introduced and went through Committee hearing that I chaired and uh that I moved earlier thank you uh so we'll have a roll call vote on on this Madam Secretary council member Parker no council member Parker votes no council member Pinto yes council member Pinto votes yes council member Robert White present council member Robert White will be recorded as present council member Tran white present council member Tron white will be recorded as present council member Allen yes council member votes yes council member bonds yes council member bonds votes yes council member fuman yes council member freman votes yes counc gray council member gray council member Henderson yes council member Henderson votes yes council member Lewis George no council member Lewis George votes no council member McDuffy no council member McDuffy votes no coun chairman Mendelson yes chairman Mendelson votes yes council member noo no council member nadelle votes no council member gray council member gray will be recorded as absent Mr chairman there are six yeses four NOS two presents and one absent uh the the bill is approved we are we're on the non-consent agenda but the next measure for consideration is on page five I feel as if we've already discussed this quite a bit already today uh Bill 25- 425 strengthening traffic enforcement education and responsibility Amendment Act of 2023 council member Allen thank you Mr chairman um I'm not going to uh repeat all the comments from the committee a hold but hope that those can be incorporated um but I am going to be moving an amendment in in the nature of a substitute so shall I move that Amendment and speak to it okay thank you um following the committee on transportation and environments approval of Bill 25425 my staff has been working very closely with the agencies and have received additional feedback from our implementing agencies we've Incorporated that feedback into this and I am now moving uh which make some very small clarifying changes to the bill the committee had approved let me walk through those briefly first the ANS clarifies that the DMV has the authority to impose excuse me first the ANS clarifies the DMV has the authority to impose additional requirements through rul making on drivers seeking to have their license reinstated for example the DMV wants to ensure that it retains the ability to require drivers who have had a DUI to maintain supplemental insurance as the DMV does now DMV could do this under the language of the committee print but this is Amendment just make sure that Authority is very clear ANS also modifies Provisions related to the creation of the intelligent speed assistance program um Isa this would install Isa systems in the vehicles of drivers convicted of certain offenses while speeding 20 miles per hour or plus over the speed limit the print gave the DMV the discretion about which type of Isa systems to use to simplify administration of this program the ANS specifies that the ISA program will install only systems quote that limit the speed at which a motor vehicle can travel based on the applicable speed limit that is cars with Isa installed will be limited to 20 M hour on residential streets but could drive much faster on a highway which I think was one of the concerns that been expressed earlier furthermore the ANS delays the requirement that the DMV submit a monthly uh report to DC spe Accord oag and a semiannual report to the council regarding replications initiated based on qualifying convictions by one year to January 1st 2025 and the ANS also modifies Provisions that prevent the issuance of at or parking tickets against a vehicle or license plate that was stol the committee print requires that NPD notify the DMV about any stolen vehicles or tags so the D would not issue at citations against the stolen vehicle or tag the amendment broadens the mandate to require that MPD transmit this information to the DMV d dot and DPW since DT is the agency that issues the notices of infraction for at violations they should be included in that transmission and since DPW May issue parking tickets against a stolen vehicle or tag the amendment also requires NPD transmit information to DPW and prohibits DPW from issuing parking tickets against stolen tickets or stolen vehicles or tags finally the amendment requires that all law enforcement officers not just MPD officers notify the DMV of a suspected DUI that is already the current practice with that Mr chairman I move the amendment in the nature of substitute uh thank you Mr Allen we have the amendment before is there discussion on the amendment chairman yes council member white yes I'm gonna watch the clock for folks please do um I acknowledge and so support the intent of this bill and other measures that came into play in formalizing this bill from other members what I am concerned is the the lack of Rec proy we have over these other jurisdictions and I'm afraid that we have we're going down this path to bring some type of accountability um that don't exist with other jurisdictions and which DC residents already have accountability measures put in place and this would just double down and have a adverse impact on residents only and Maryland and Virginia will go Scot free yet again as it goes to the courts as we as it this has to go through Congress to pass um I'm just concerned about those unforeseen uh circumstances that I know that this impacts um and so that's one of the things I was trying to get questions on when it comes to the how many were affected by this bill in percentage and it was told that only 10% of those who had the high number of tickets were actually DC residents and 90% were non DC residents and so um just want to put that on public record um for the record thank you chairman uh thank you further uh council member Parker and then Henderson thank you chairman I would like to thank uh council member Allen and his staff for advancing this important uh safety legislation I was happy to support the legislation in committee and I look forward to voting for it uh I just want to add to the discussion um that we've had today that in 2023 Ward five experience more traffic fatalities than any other ward in the city and since 2018 Wards 57 and8 account for two-thirds of all fatal crashes in the city and so while I appreciate the sensitivity the council has shown towards racial Equity um it is important that we take action because the people who are paying the price the most for our deadly roads are are uh residents in Wards 57 and8 many of them black brown and lowincome um and I just would implore us to refuse to accept this pain and suffering as inevitable our roads are too big our speed limits are too high uh and our enforcement of our traffic laws fall short of what is needed to drive culture so again I want to underscore my belief that this legislation advances racial and economic Justice uh and will not hinder it thank you thank you Council M Henderson thank you Mr chairman um two summers ago uh followed following a spirited debate on the role of fines and fees and the district's clean hand laws um in terms of traffic enforcement I think there was an agreement amongst the council that it was time for us to look for alternative ways to meaningfully promote driver accountability and promote Traffic Safety in the intervening time we have invested millions of dollars with do dot to um and pass legislation to push for various infrastructure changes whether it be rais sidewalks around schools um other different types of roadway designs all in an effort and in the name of traffic safety and getting folks to slow down um I think this legislation is another component of that um myself and other colleagues introduced bills provisions of which um were included in sear out of a shared concern that the District's approach to Traffic Safety enforcement and accountability was not sufficient the district will not meet the vision zero goals we set nearly a decade ago and residents cannot be assured of their safety when walking to the pool when biking or driving on or near the district's roads at this particular stage Traffic Safety is not just a policy issue it is a shared responsibility that shapes the very essence of our community this bill will move the needle on driver accountability through the intelligent speed program the changes to the ignition interlock program which we found through oversight hadn't been um enforced or implemented um providing the Office of the Attorney General with civil enforcement Authority which gets to some of our neighbors in um Virginia and Maryland um it structures our booting and towing system for prioritization through a new point system that penalizes unsafe driving behavior regardless of your ability to pay fines and it also promotes increased agency collaboration we def desperately needed all of these changes and I look forward to continuing this work to make sure that all of our roadways are safer for all users so I want to thank the committee staff who worked diligently to move this bill um and I want to also thank council member Allen for his collaboration and Leadership on this issue thank you Mr chairman uh thank you council member Henderson if there's no further discussion we have the amendment nature of a substitute before us on a voice vote all those in favor of the amendment say I I I I are there any opposed chairman please mark me as present council member trayon white will be marked as present the amendment is approved unanimously the um bill as amended as before us a further discussion I can keep talking if you want me no you don't have to um the [Music] um insulting with the secretary we'll do because there's several members particip virtually we will do Madam Secretary please call council member Pinto yes council member Pinto votes yes council member Robert White yes council member Robert White votes yes council member Tron white present council member trayon white will be recorded as present council member Allen yes council member Allen votes yes council member bonds yes council member bonds votes yes council member fruman yes council member Freeman votes yes council member gray yes council member gray votes yes council member Henderson yes council member Henderson votes vot yes council member Lewis George yes council member Lewis George votes yes council member McDuffy yes council member McDuffy votes yes chairman Mendelson yes chairman Mendelson votes yes council member noo yes council member noo votes yes council member Parker yes coun Parker votes yes Mr chairman there are 12 yeses and one present uh thank you Madam Secretary the bill is approved unanimously um the next measures are on resolutions the next measures PR 25603 uh as I indicated the breakfast I'm going to withdraw that but before I withdraw it I'm going to say this um as I indicated at the breakfast but I'm going to make this clearer uh at this point the concern is the timing for the implementation of the budget enhancement the SNAP benefits enhancement that the council approved it's a matter of law that the mayor's indicated that she will implement um so what I'm going to look for is the two committees that have been involved with this committee on Health chaired by council member Henderson who's been particularly active on this issue of the snap getting the snap um increase implemented and the committee on housing which has oversight over the Department of Human Services I'm going to look to each of them to give me a sense before our Fe February sixth meeting whether it looks like things are proceeding a pace uh if they're not proceeding a pace then uh I will um reintroduce the uh resolution uh to give uh Council authorization I want to emphasize this is authorization it's not uh the decision to actually go into court um so stay tuned is what I would say I'm going to look to the two committees uh if we're comfortable that things are moving a pace then uh we don't need to bring it back chman possible for us to do a date certain like we do with other legislations uh no because it's withdrawn um and that's what I had indicated at the breakfast okay but let me be C I don't mean to be so flip about this um in my mind in my mind there's a date certain that I will bring this back February 6 if it looks like things are moving a pace on February 6 but not a week or two later I'll bring it back back a week or two later uh but I I will add just because now that I've said all this um I was in a meeting yesterday with council member Henderson and council member white and um the mayor was quite clear about proceeding with implementing this so the next measure on the agenda is pr25 d566 local rent supplement program contract number 2024 lrsp d01a approval resolution of 2023 council member Robert White thank you chairman this is a resolution to approve a contract that will help a nonprofit called nhp Foundation refurbish 26 apartments and make them available to extremely low-income households in permanent support of housing in this permanent Supportive Housing program as members are aware the Department of Housing and Community Development administers the housing production trust fund dhcd coordinates with other District agencies that administer other housing subsidies including the DC housing Authority which administers the local rent supplement program together they run what's called a Consolidated RFP process to make sure the different funding streams support each other nhp was a successful bidder in the 2021 Consolidated RFP as a result the council recently approved a $28 million hptf contract with nhp nhp is going to use those funds to perform major upgrades to 128 Apartments but those agencies running the consolidated FP are also also decided that this project should receive Project based housing vouchers dcha administers the local voucher program so we need this additional contract unlike most contracts the executive sends to the council which are eligible for Passive approval this one is a multi-year agreement that requires active approval under the home rule act dcha and and nhp intend to close their housing preservation deal later this month dcha filed the contract and the approval resolution timely for consideration today if we don't adopt this resolution the voucher contract will be disapproved on January 27 based on the materials we've received this appears to be a worthwhile project I therefore move the proposed resolution 25566 the local rent supplement program contract number 2024-25 thank you we have the resolution before us discussion uh Madam Secretary would you call the role what um all right if there's no objection we'll do a Voice vote I I've been trained as long as several members are virtuals that we do V roll calls but apparently I'm being retrained today so we'll do a Voice vote unless somebody objects all those in favor of pr25 d566 say I I I are there any no votes I don't see or hear any no votes Madam Secretary do you agree agreed Mr chairman all right the uh resolution is approved unanimously a final reading and vote on temporary legislation bill bill 25594 streetery program extension temporary Amendment Act of 2023 Council McDuffy thank you Mr chairman I'm going like to move to postpone uh this measure for consideration to our February 6 legislative meeting it's been a motion to postpone to February 26th if there's no objection 6 February 6th yes I misspoke a motion to postpone this until February 6th there's no objection the motion will be approved hearing no objection it is approved it's awfully quiet down there did you still want to say something oh we were having trouble hearing in terms of what bill we were moving to postpone um Bill 25594 Streeter program extension temporary Amendment Act of 2023 thank you up and without objection it was postponed to February 6th so we'll turn to emergency legislation uh the first measure being moved by me the historic preservation review board succession emergency declaration resolution of 20123 pr25 d585 the purpose of the underlying legislation is to allow the histor preservation review board to maintain a quorum until one of its five current members AR neque Keith can be um approved by the council the legislation will extend the holdover length of hrb hprb members which is this particular member to 225 days uh rather than the current 180 days uh the hprb has nine members but right now there are four vacancies and of the five filled seats Marque is currently serving in a holdover capacity that will lapse on or around January 17th her nomination has been sent down her nomination for reappointment has been sent down last week and the committee the whole has scheduled a hearing which actually will be a round table on January 10th which I think is tomorrow Al so uh unless there are problems we will come forward with her um reappointment confirmation and this allows all that to happen without the board lapsing into inability to act because of the lack of a quorum I move the Declaration discussion Mr chairman council member Henderson how many vacancies are currently on the historic preservation review board four okay have you all received any nominations for those no okay um there are um I have been corresponding with Mota since October and um I understand that there are I want to say four nominations that are in process um and I expect to get them I I want to say shortly but I don't know if shortly means this week this month or next month but I'm pretty sure they'll come in okay thank you so they're nine members four vacancies which Lees five Marie Kei is in hold over so on on around January 17th there will be five vacancies with this emergency there will continue to be four further roll call all right we'll do a roll call on this one because it requires two-third vote Madam Secretary would you call the role the vote is on the Declaration coun M Robert White yes council member Robert White votes yes council member trayan white yes council member Tran white votes yes council member Allan yes council member Allen votes yes council member bonds yes council member bonds votes yes council member freman yes council member freman votes yes council member gray yes council member gray votes yes council member Henderson yes council member Henderson votes yes council member LS George yes council member Lewis George votes yes council member McDuffy yes council member McDuffy votes yes chairman Mendelson yes chairman Mendelson votes yes Council M noo yes counc noo votes yes council member Parker yes council member Parker votes yes council member Pinto yes council member Pinto votes yes Mr chairman there have 13 yeses thank you Madam Secretary the Declaration is approved unanimously uh I move the underlying Bill Bill 25- 644 discussion since the Declaration was unanimous uh we'll do Voice vote all those in favor of the bill say I I I I neck um are there any no votes I don't hear any no votes the bill is approved unanimously BR 25606 protecting consumers from unjust debt collection practices technical clarification Amendment emergency declaration resolution of 2024 uh this is being uh moved by me uh the council adopted legislation um in 2022 that became maybe we adopted in 2021 that became applicable as of January 1 last year it concerns debt collection practices public utilities are subject to the requirements in that law however after we adopted it there were a few concerns that were brought to our attention last year the council approved emergency and temporary legislation to address those uh what do I call them variances with the public utilities that legislation has or is about to actually expired uh four days ago and so this is a new round of emergency in temporary uh looking at the notice to avoid confusion or negative impacts on customers or utilities it's necessary to clarify that certain specific regulatory requirements for utilities are permitted under this debt collection practices law identical legislation was enacted last year as I noted this is a new round of emergency in temporary and um we will need to move on permanent legislation I move the Declaration is there [Music] discussion mam secretary would you call the RO the vote will be on pr25 606 council member Tran white yes council member Tran white votes yes council member Allan council member Allen yes council member Allen votes yes council member Bond yes council member bonds votes yes council member fuman yes council member fuman votes yes council member gray yes yes council member gray votes yes council member Henderson yes council member Henderson votes yes council member Lewis George yes council member Le George votes yes council member McDuffy yes council member McDuffy votes yes chairman Mendelson yes chairman Mendon votes yes council member Nel yes council member Nadel votes yes council member Parker yes council member Parker votes yes council member Pinto yes council member Pinto votes yes council member Robert White yes council member Robert White votes yes Mr chairman they 13 yeses thank you Madam Secretary the Declaration is approved unanimously I move the underlying Bill Bill 25- 662 is there discussion uh since the Declaration was unanimous we'll do a Voice vote which I hope has a little more energy behind it all those in favor of Bill 25662 say I I [Music] I are there any opposed I don't don't see or hear any no votes uh the uh bill is approved unanimously uh the next measure which I am moving is school Improvement emergency declaration resolution of 24 pr25 d590 uh this the purpose of this uh emergency is to implement the permanent legislation uh more quickly since it requires a report from The Office of the State superintendent on education to be completed by the end of this fiscal year the permanent bill was approved on second reading final reading earlier in this meeting the purpose of the the legislation overall is to elevate School support as an urgent priority for the district uh and to give authority to AI the office of State superintendent uh to work directly with the lowest performing schools the fiscal impact on the permanent legislation is small but nonetheless exists it's about $150,000 a year but not this fiscal year and uh so the permanent legislation has a subject to appropriation clause in it in fact I should have noted that except we can't discuss legislation on the consent agenda but General council is going to put that applicability provision in the permanent because of this the emergency is a shortened version of the permanent and only includes the provision necessary for AI to do the report the plan that they have to do this fiscal year this measure as an emergency allows Assie to move forward with immediately to meet the September 30th 2024 deadline for report submission I move the Declaration is there discussion there'll be a roll call on the Declaration pr25 d590 Madam Secretary council member Allen yes council member Allen votes yes council member bonds yes council member bonds votes yes council member council member fuman yes council member fuman votes yes council member gray yes council member gray votes yes council member Henderson yes council member Henderson votes yes council member Lewis George yes council member Lewis George votes yes council member McDuffy yes council member McDuffy votes yes chairman Mendelson yes chairman Mendon votes yes council member noo yes council member Nadel votes yes council member Parker yes council member Parker votes yes council member Pino yes council member Pinto votes yes council member Robert White yes council member Robert White votes yes and council member Tron white yes council member Tran white votes yes Mr chairman the 13 yeses thank you Madam Secretary the Declaration is approved unanimously we have the underlying Bill Bill 25- 650 so moved discussion since the Declaration was approved was approved unanimously we'll do a Voice vote on the bill all those in favor say I I hi [Music] hi madam secretary could you check and see if the oxygen level is high enough in this room uh opposed are there any opposed I don't hear any uh the bill is approved unanimously the next measure which I'm also moving is term clarification emergency declaration resolution of 2024 PR 25- 588 the purpose of this legislation is to immediately Implement Bill 25- 342 the term clarification Amendment Act of 2023 on an emergency basis this Alle this legislation was originally introduced or that legislation was originally introduced at the request of the public ch School Board to clarify that a member of its board could serve an additional full term if the mayor chooses to renominate him and that's because his initial term was a partial term I mentioned this at the breakfast struggling with these partial terms on boards in which there is a term limit the committee of the whole in its markup of the bill expanded the scope of the permanent legislation to effect to effect effect other changes to laws regarding nominations and appointments importantly the legislation makes changes to the administrative procedure Act and the District of Columbia codification act 1975 to clarify that publication in the District of Columbia register is not a prerequisite to legislation becoming effective it is desirable that this too becomes effective as soon as possible since it reflects current practice as we know particularly with bills because they all have this effective date Clause at the end legislation becomes effective after it's completed its Congressional review or in the case of emergencies once the mayor has signed it or has returned it unsigned or has vetoed it and we overturn The veto um in any event that's when legislation becomes effective not when it is published and so this bill the permanent Bill clarifies all that the emergency bill will make that happen more quickly the um permanent Bill also addresses the situation of reappointments to the out of school time commission which has a term limit and when we adopted this bill on a final reading in December uh we inadvertently I inadvertently had language that did not um fix that correctly which is why this will the permanent will show up later on this agenda as a reconsideration at any event the emergency legislation reflects all components of the underlying permanent Bill including the permanent bill as it will be amended shortly I move the Declaration is there discussion we will have a roll call vote council member bonds yes council member bonds votes yes council member fuman yes council member fuman votes yes council member gray yes council member gray votes yes council member Henderson yes council member Henderson votes yes council member L George yes council member L George votes yes council member McD yes council member McDuffy votes yes chairman Mendon yes chairman Mendon yes Council n yes council member NAD votes yes council member Parker yes council member Parker votes yes council member Pinto yes council member Pinto votes yes council member Robert White yes council member Robert White votes yes council member Tran white yes council member Tran white votes yes council member Allen yes council member Allen votes yes Mr chairman there have 13 yeses thank you Madam Secretary the Declaration is approved unanimously we have the underlying Bill Bill 25- 647 so moved is their discussion since the Declaration was approved unanimously we'll do a Voice vote hopefully with enough oxygen in the chamber all those in favor say I I I are there any opposed wow Madame secretary did you hear the vote no Mr chairman well we're not going to repeat it uh the eyes have it unanimously the next measure is pr25 d587 Shirley Chisum Elementary School redesignation emergency declaration resolution of 2024 which I am moving the purpose of the legislation is to officially redesignate that is rename the school now known as Tyler Elementary School to rename it as Shirley Chisum Elementary School School the permanent legislation implementing this official naming H was approved just within the past hour or so um on Final reading uh DCPS had requested that we do this on an emergency basis that is we get this effective immediately I think because of the uh School Lottery and they want to have the new name in the lottery instead of the current name so uh I I agreed to uh propose that we do this immediately which is why the Declaration is before us I'm not going to say much about the names because we've already discussed names enough today uh but um so moved on the Declaration is there discussion Mr chairman Mr Allen thank you I I know we have already debated and uh this Council has successfully pass legislation changing the name so uh I appreciate that I just want to uh reiterate how important this name change is my gratitude to the entire Community around the school that went through a very long thoughtful deliberative process uh to make this change and how eager and excited they are uh to be Shirley Chisum Elementary School um and I'm very excited to be able to make that name official as well and I appreciate the action today that's going to allow that to happen and make sure the school is ready for the new school year in the fall with all the signage and with the name changes and all the things and also a quick thanks to DCPS for uh being a really great partner in this name change and helping support that thank you Mr chairman thank you council member further discussion on the Declaration we'll have a roll call vote Madame secretary council member fuman yes council member fuman votes yes council member gray yes council member gray votes yes council member Henderson yes council member Henderson votes yes council member LS George yes council member L George votes yes council member McDuffy yes council member McDuffy votes yes chairman melson yes chairman Mendelson votes yes council member noo yes council member noo votes yes council member Parker yes council member Parker votes yes council member Pinto yes council member Pinto votes yes council member Robert White yes council member Robert White votes yes council member Tran white yes Council council member Tran white votes yes council member Allen yes council member Allen votes yes and council member bonds yes council member bonds votes yes Mr chairman there are 13 yeses thank you Madam Secretary the Declaration is approved unanimously we have the underlying Bill Bill 25- 646 so moved is there discussion since the Declaration was approved unanimously we'll do a Voice vote all those in favor uh Bill 25- 646 say I I I I are there any opposed I don't see or he any no votes yeah I just have it un iously uh the next measure is pr25 d589 medical cannabis program enforcement and emergency declaration resolution of 2024 council member Allen thank you Mr chairman back in 2022 the council started a debate about how to respond to the presence of unlicensed establishments across the district that sell deliver or exchange cannabis as part of a commercial transaction these establishments which are known across the district as i71 or gifting shops are part of a gray Market in the district that's estimated to take in more than $600 million in sales annually these establishments do not pay the taxes and fees that licensed facilities under the district's medical cannabis program must pay and most are owned by non-district residents and sell products that are untraced untested and mostly cultivated outside of the district the presence of some of these establishments have also raised serious public health and safety concerns some of these establishments are located in areas in which legal facilities are not allowed to operate such as within 300 ft of schools or recreation centers these businesses also have been the target of criminal activities such as robbery and theft and some have been implicated in criminal activities themselves including illegal possession of firearms and illegal possession and distribution of Narcotics in December 2022 the council passed the medical cannabis Amendment Act of 2022 to provide an on-ramp for these establishments to come into compliance and obtain a license under the district's medical cannabis program the open application period began on November 1st 2023 and will close in just a few weeks on January 29th 2024 with applications coming in the alcoholic beverage and cannabis Administration a already accepting and placering establishments and anc's across the district are weighing in several issues have come to the Forefront regarding the current process and I convene an implementation discussion with advisory neighborhood Commissioners in Ward six just last month first and foremost is enforcement right now under current law neither ABA nor the Department of Licensing consu protection have the authority to issue warnings fines or cease and assist orders against unlicensed establishments that do not seek to apply to become a part of the district's medical cannabis program that's a problem this Gap in the law if not fixed will render the onramp meaningless allow unlicensed establishments that do not apply to keep on operating and significantly harm the good actors that have applied they're seeking to become a part of the medical cannabis program working with their anc's and Community it is important that the on-ramp serves its intended purpose and for to do so enforcement against unlicensed establishments that do not pursue lure is required additionally as it relates to enforcement concerns have been raised about the ability of the Department of Licensing and consumer protection to issue warnings and fines to commercial landlords of these unlicensed establishments that's going to be an important tool but currently unfunded and therefore not effective second the implementation discussion that I had with our Ward 6cs revealed that it's not clear who is standing to protest the issuance of a license to an unlicensed establishment that does apply right now for example any a ANC in the ward where an applicant is located can protest kind of makes it a little confusing so for example if I have an applicant located ANC 6A on the H Street Corridor then ANC 6D which is located miles away in southwest could protest that license and enter into a settlement agreement with the applicant Additionally the current law excludes anc's that might be in a different Ward but simply just across the street from the applicant with the w boundary separating them from being able to protest sticking with my w c 6A example if there's an applicant across the boundary inward seven on 15th street that ANC 6A wouldn't have standing to protest despite the fact that it's just across the street without objection 30 more seconds resolving these issues today is important as the open application period closes in just under three weeks enforcement is a crucial piece to ensuring the success of the licensing on-ramp that we've created for unlicensed establishments to come into compliance furthermore we all know it's important for our anc's to be able to effectively use their voice and work with the establishments to proactively address issues and make our neighborhoods thriving and welcoming places to live and do business lastly Mr chairman I want to thank you and your staff as well as my colleague councelor McDuffy and his staff for working with me and my staff on this emergency legislation I also want to thank director male and his staff over at ABA as well as the staff at Department of Licensing and consumer protection for their feedback and partnership in working on this legislation thank you Mr chairman and with that I'll move the Declaration thank you Council maren um is there a discussion we have the Declaration before us Mr chairman somebody said Council Pinto thank you very much Mr chairman and thank you council member Allen and your entire team for introducing and moving this emergency today it is very important for us to have a strong medical cannabis Market to meet our residents needs and ensure that cannabis products are safe accessible and well well regulated and I'm enthusiastic that we are on this path the proliferation though of unlawful cannabis businesses undermines our ability to meet these goals which is why the council created a pathway for currently unlicensed businesses to become licensed in the medical cannabis space this regulatory scheme allows among other things for medical cannabis products sold in the district to be tested for safety and Effectiveness and ensures that cannabis businesses do not locate in inappropriate areas like next to schools or recreation centers we have made the pathway to licensing as accessible as possible for businesses that are currently operating balancing consumer protection with economic fairness and many businesses are in the process of obtaining licenses now it is also essential the district is able to provide effective oversight of LIC lied establishments and enforce regulations against unlicensed and non-compliant businesses this emergency legislation today will further strengthen our enforcement regime by ensuring that ABA as well as MPD and the Attorney General have the tools needed to ensure that cannabis businesses comply with our laws and are held accountable if they do not additionally I appreciate the provisions ensuring that local anc's within 600 feet of an establishment applying for medical cannabis license will now have the ability to protest during the licensing process however I do want to make clear that as we move forward I remain concerned about a larger category of people who may have a vested interest in a particular license for example parents of children who attend a nearby school but might not live in thatc and should have standing to protest that license I also think we should consider the importance of consistency in rul making and regulation for alcohol and medical cannabis we have an existing regulatory scheme right now for alcohol that includes rights for various interested parties in addition to a anc's to have standing during aba's consideration of a license including a budding Property Owners informal groups of District residents and established Community associations why not for cannabis as we consider to evaluate as we continue to evaluate and consider our larger medical cannabis regulatory scheme in permanent legislation which is coming we should aim to to create more consistency in this regard and ensure that our medical cannabis regulations are at least as stringent as our alcohol regulations so thank you very much again council member Allan to you and your team and for your work in collaboration with abka and Council McDuffy and chairman Mendelson for bringing this emergency forward today and I look forward to working with the committee on business and economic development to continue considering additional safeguards around cannabis regulation as we move forward thank you uh thank you council member Pinto Mr chairman uh council member McDuffy thank you uh chairman and thank you council member Allen uh for all the work that you and your team have done and for working with me and my team on this emergency measure when the council uh passed medical Canabis Amendment Act of 2022 we provided unlicensed establishments with the a real Pathway to enter the market without having to face the immediate threat of enforcement uh this pathway opened on November 1st of last year and to date 37 establishments have taken advantage of this opportunity implied for a license during the open application period this measure before us today ensures that we retain this legitimate pathway while clarifying enforcement procedures for unlicensed establishments that choose not to apply during this open application period that ends on January 29th and continue to operate in violation of the law uh so I plan to support this measure today and again I want to thank council member Allen and his team for their collaboration on it thank you thank you council member further discussion uh we have the Declaration before us pr25 d589 mam secretary would you call the role council member gray yes council member gray votes yes council member Henderson yes council member Henderson votes yes council member Lewis George yes counc Le George votes yes council member McDuffy yes council member McDuffy votes yes chairman Mendelson yes chman Mendon votes yes council member noo yes council member noo votes yes council member Parker yes council member Parker votes yes council member Pinto yes council member Pinto votes yes council member Robert White yes council member Robert White votes yes council member trayon white yes council member trayon white votes yes council member Allan yes council member Allen votes yes council member bonds yes council member bonds votes yes and council member Freeman yes council member Freeman votes yes Mr chairman there are 13 SES thank you Madam Secretary the Declaration is approved unanimously we have the underlying Bill Bill 25- 648 council member Allen so move Mr chair discussion uh since the Declaration was approved unanimously we'll do a Voice vote all those in favor of the bill bill 25- 648 say I I I I I are there any notes votes I don't see or hear any no votes the bill is approved unanimously uh we have three measures that were introduced at the request of the mayor uh the first is being moved by me the Declaration is protecting adjacent and adjoining property owners from construction damage emergency decoration resolution of 2023 PR 25-61 so moved is uh I should say something about it um yes I should and guess what I put the piece of paper somewhere on December 20th of 20122 the council approved uh permanent legislation the law requires Property Owners contractors or persons applying for specific types of permits I'll emphasize for specific types of permits to obtain liability insurance that covers loss or damage to adjacent and adjoining property owners for certain permits issued by the department and I'll emphasize for certain permits following the enactment of the law the to buildings determined that three additional permit types should be included under the law due to the potential risk of damage or injury to a neighboring property these additional permits are alteration in repair permits where the applicant will be engaged in underpinning or specific other construction activity a foundation permit and a new building permit the failure to have included these permit types under the law uh leads to a significant Gap in the protection afforded to adjacent and adjoining property owners the executive brought this to our attention and asked that we amend the law on an emergency basis to include these additional permit types um we have the Declaration before us I'm going to have an oral Amendment to the bill and um I am just looking at this for the first time I have an oral Amendment the oral amendments can add uh underpinning I don't know if that's a specific permit I don't think it is but I just want to make sure that I guess what I'm saying here is because the oral Amendment will be to the bill that if necessary the Declaration be amended to reflect that it would include underpinning don't ask me where because I don't have in frun of me I'm just saying that the permanence the bill is going to have underpinning in it and the Declaration should reflect that um so I move the Declaration and I I hope I haven't confused folks is there a discussion I will have a roll call vote on the Declaration BR 25-61 council member Henderson yes council member Henderson votes yes council member Lewis George yes council member Lewis George votes yes council member McDuffy yes council member McDuffy votes yes chairman Mendelson yes chairman Mendelson votes yes Council M noo yes council member noo votes yes council member Parker council member Parker votes yes council member Pinto yes council member Pinto votes yes council member Robert White yes council member Robert White votes yes council member Tron white yes council member Tron white votes yes council member Allen yes council member Allen votes yes council member bonds yes council member bonds votes yes council member fuman yes council member fuman votes yes and council member gray yes council member gray votes yes Mr chairman there are 13 yeses uh thank you Madam Secretary the Declaration is approved unanimously uh the underlying bill is Bill 25652 so moved and as I noted I have an oral Amendment which is on line 33 I believe to add the word underpinning um the provision which looks like it's a sub paragraph I I would read an addition alteration and repair permit pursuant to which the applicant will be engaging in underpinning construction at the property line or on the party wall of the of an adjacent or joining property or any construction activity for which a permit listed under subparagraph and there a bunch of paragraphs would otherwise be required so as I understand that the amendment is just to add the word underpinning got it or to have the sentence read the way I read it and Madam General councel you've got this yes yes Mr chairman since I'm holding it in front of you um is there so I move the bill with this oral amendment is there discussion on the bill and if there's no objection to the oral Amendment hearing none uh is there discussion on the bill since the roll call vote on the Declaration was unanimous we'll do a Voice vote on Bill 25652 as amended all those in favor say I I I I are there any no votes I don't see or hear any no votes the eyes have it unanimously the next measure is PR 25602 housing and downtown tax abatement technical Amendment emergency declaration resolution of 2024 council member McDuffy thank you uh Mr chairman the emergency and temporary legislation uh was introduced and is being moved at the request of the mayor the council originally passed the housing and downtown tax abatement program to incentivize office of residential conversions in 2022 and made important substantive changes during last year's budget process we've been expecting implementing regulations for some time and this emergency addresses technical administrative changes is changes necessary before denig can release the draft regulations for public comment regulations are conditional on approval of the proposed amendments to the program and I understand that the regulations will be ready to release for public comment soon after the approval of this emergency uh briefly the issues addressed in the emergency include clarifying that the housing and downtown program is a competitive one rather than a first come first serve program specifying how the toe prefer sale exemptions to be recorded and adding flexibility of timing between the conditional approval of the tax abatement and the issuance of the final certificate of occupancy with that I move uh measure we have the Declaration before thank you Council McDuffy is there discussion we'll have a roll call vote on pr25 d602 Madam Secretary council member Lewis George yes council member Lewis George votes yes council member McDuffy yes counc McDuffy votes yes chairman Mendon yes chairman Mendon votes yes councilman noo yes council member noo votes yes council member Parker yes council member Parker votes yes council member Pinto yes council member Pinto votes yes council member Robert White yes council member Robert White votes yes council member Tron white yes council member Tran white votes yes council member Allen yes council member Allen votes yes council member bonds yes counc Bond votes yes council member Freeman yes council member frean votes yes council member gray Council council member gray votes yes and council member Henderson yes council member Henderson votes yes Mr chairman there are 13 yeses thank you Madam Secretary the Declaration is approved unanimously the underlying bill is Bill 25- 656 council member m Duffy so move discussion Mr chairman council member white uh thank you chairman I'm uh glad we're moving this when uh the council approved the housing and downtown program last year the expectation was that the program would commence a later than July of 2023 uh the program has been stalled for eight months and the regulations uh are yet to be drafted uh this delay is concerning um I I think that we are not a f years behind but at least seven or eight years behind uh developing housing downtown aggressively long before the pandemic started uh there was significant office vacancy uh downtown around 14% which was much higher uh than a decade prior at the same time we have an immediate and significant need for housing I've discussed this with deputy mayor for planning and economic development in my office spoke with dmed yesterday and was promised that once this amendment passed the program will be ready to accept applications by March I plan to work with council member McDuffy to ensure that this timeline is followed so that we can uh get this important uh effort underway thank you chairman uh thank you council member further discussion the Declaration was approved unanimously so we'll do a voice for on this bill all those in favor say I I I [Music] I are there any opposed I don't see or hear any no votes the eyes have it unanimously the next measure is BR 25-54 contract number dcrl d222 db- 0029 with District dist Services Management LLC approval and payment authorization emergency declaration resolution of 2023 council member L charge uh thank you chairman uh this contract is one of the examples where we are put in the position of deciding between sort of protecting the executive by fixing their mistake or not approving payments for Vital Services District residents rely on um in this case transportation to school for kids in the care of cfsa uh this contract was was not submitted for the council approval until well after more than 1 million was expended and the contract term ended furthermore uh the executive attempted to secure approval of a contract modification for current services in an amount less than $1 million um I decided to move this contract because I think we have to give we have to given the position we're in and the potential harm to families who rely on this Transportation um I'm also moving an amendment that removes the unnecessary and impermissible approval of the contract modification for current Services less than 1 million um I office and uh Office of the general Council have spoken with cfsa and the office of Attorney General and the executive agencies do not object to this amendment um transportation to school for youth in CFA cfsa care could not be more important especially during the district's current treny and absenc and crisis with Children Care having among the highest rates of absenteeism uh while this contract should have come to the council earlier uh and in a proper form it is necessary that the council act now to ensure these vital services are paid for um I move the amendment to PR uh 25- 540 so we have the Declaration resolution before us correct and then we have the amendment yes um okay so discussion on the amendment is there discussion on the amendment uh I will ask you council member um the amendment was cleared with General Council correct yes yes Council R I have a question to um council member Lewis George you're saying this is a transportation contract correct and transportation for our students yeah student uh ncfsa care all right thank you yes so the reason why it's under Council LS George's committee is because these are students who are under cfsa care oh their students with their cfsa um maybe I'll use the Declaration to just say yes plea please read the Declaration I guess this it it I'm glad you added where and you typed the students it just seems that the more the the larger our budgets get um that we're to pass judgment on the more diverse the service delivery models are and um it just can boggled the mind of those of us some of us who were sitting here and I wonder how the public feels trying to draw a line from one agency to the other to track the service delivery models that we have yeah and I just wish it was a little easier but wishing won't get it so I think we have to really pay um closer attention to how we deliver services and how we can track them um and I'm using as a case and point one of the services that um is in my committee is found actually in Risk Management um office I mean it's just we're all over the place um and trying to do performance oversight and look at the schedule for performance oversight we find ourselves frequently one committee bumped up against the other committee yeah same time and it doesn't lend itself to um um you know strong oversight that that that's the concern that I have oversight that the public is paying attention to of course we are talking to agencies and the service delivery system all the time but when it is time to to air for the Public's comment it makes it very very difficult and and I think we ought to take a look at this more closely Mr chairman just a recommendation observation observation my comment was a little different and I'm going to use the Declaration to talk about this um rather than the underlying because that's usually what we do and that is that this contract and this is I'm not I'm critical but not critical of the council member who's moving this this contract was for a or this approvals for a contract that uh expired last September no pause here that's what three and a half months ago yeah it was submitted to us I'm I think last week again for a contract that expired last September um I'm assuming that the committee is pressing cfsa why they couldn't get the contract over here more quickly you will know that uh you will remember you all will remember that we had something like this with DCPS last year we had one contract in AI last year um I think we as our committees with oversight need to press these agencies on why they get these contracts to us so late we have to approve it as in they just as soon get it to us on time um rather than late because it doesn't change the fact that it still requires Council approval before there are payments is there anything council member Le Cho you want to add with regard to cfsa tardiness yeah we did um I did ask them why um uh they gave several reasons for the a reason for delay um one the contractor officer required the contract administrator to analyze the transportation referral and trip data and submit a report of the current and estimated future spending on the contract through um September 30th 23 um identify funding to support the additional service requests Council summer recess uh legal sufficiency review and approvals from ocp and then legal sufficiency review and approvals from the city administrator uh so that is that was the reasoning for it why uh there was a delay in in submission um provided by cfsa so in other words the lack of Prior planning I'll just say that the lack of that the lack of Prior planning on the part of the agency um forgive me and this is a rhetorical question but does anybody know when uh the council recess is this year as in didn't we know when the council recess was last year as in didn't the agency know when the council recess was but uh that's anyway I don't want to belabor it uh any further discussion on the amendment let's do this if there's no objection the amendment will be accepted hearing no objection it is accepted we have the Declaration as amended before us any further discussion hearing none Madam Secretary would you call the role Council M McDuffy yes Council M McDuffy votes yes chairman Mendelson yes chairman mson votes yes council member Nido yes council member Nido votes yes council member Parker yes council member Parker votes yes council member Pinto yes council member Pinto votes yes council member Robert White yes council member Robert White votes yes council member Tran white yes council member Tran white votes yes council member Allen yes council member Allen votes yes council member bonds yes council member bonds votes yes council member Freeman yes council member Freeman votes yes council member gray yes council member gray votes yes council member Henderson yes council member Henderson votes yes council member leis George yes counc member Le George votes yes Mr chairman there are 13 yeses thank you Madam Secretary the Declaration is as amended is approved unanimously we have the underlying Bill Bill 25586 council member Le so moved do you have an amendment M oh Mr chairman I move the amendment to be 255-0586 uh and the amendment is the same purpose as the previous Amendment correct yes uh discussion or questions from Members about the amendment if there's no objection the amendment will be deemed accepted without objection it's accepted we have the bill as amended discussion since the Declaration was uh unanimous we'll do a Voice vote on the bill bill 25- 586 as amended all those in favor say I I I I think I heard a lot lot of eyes uh are there any uh are there any no votes I don't hear or see any no votes the bill is amended is approved unanimously we have temporary measures uh protecting consumer and I'm going to move them in Block unless there's objection uh protecting consumers from unjust debt collection practices School Improvement temporary Amendment act uh Medical cannabis program enforcement temporary Amendment protecting adjacent adjoining property owners from construction damage temporary and housing and downtown tax abatement technical Amendment temporary I'm hearing no objection about moving the five measures in Block the uh I don't believe there were any amendments H there was an oral Amendment your or protecting and J it I'm the guilty one um well let's just say this if there were amendments to the emergencies the motion to approve the Temporaries includes the Amendments that were approved to the emergencies and we know of one which was the oral Amendment on protecting consumers from unjust debt I also want to note that school Improvement temporary may be pulled off at second rating since the permanent is moving today uh but um we'll leave it on for the moment so the Temporaries conform in terms of amendments to the underlying emergencies no objection to moving in in Block I'll to torment the secretary by asking her to do a roll call on this the chairman Mendon I chairman Mendon votes yes council member Nido yes council member Nido votes yes council member Parker yes council member Parker votes yes council member Pinto yes council member Pinto vot votes yes council member Robert White yes council member Robert White votes yes counc council member Tran white yes council member Tran white votes yes council member Allen yes council member Allen votes yes council member bonds yes council member Bond votes yes council member fuman yes council member fuman votes yes council member gray uh yes council member gray votes yes council member Henderson yes council member Henderson votes yes council member Lewis George yes council member Lewis George votes yes and council member McDuffy yes council member mcdy votes yes Mr chairman there are 13 yeses uh thank you Madam Secretary the five temporary measures are approved unanimously under other clity chairman yes sir I see three you said five yes on the next page so the five were uh the three at the bottom of page seven protect prot in consumer School Improvement medical cannabis and the two at the request of the mayor on page eight protecting adjacent and joining property owners and housing and downtown tax abatement thank you those were the five that were approved uh first reading uh unanimously under other business we have a motion to reconsider Bill 25342 Public Charter School Board term clarification Amendment Act of 2023 now known as the term clarification M Act of 2023 uh so moved uh this this was approved on Final reading on December 19th and I'm moving to reconsider it because um uh there was a change in the amendment adopted at second reading that um was incorrect and it's going to be fixed by an amendment I'll move now if this is reconsidered uh so I move to reconsider is there discussion uh by a Voice vote all those in favor of reconsidering say I I I are there any no votes uh the motion is approved unanimously we have the bill before us I'm going to move an amendment the amendment is linked on the agenda the amendment was circulated yesterday uh the amendment uh cleans up the provision regarding the office of school time grants and youth outcomes commission it has to do with the fact that the um uh there's a term limit um and the way the um final reading it didn't get it quite right I'll read the rationale over the years the council struggled with the executive over partial terms for certain boards and commissions the Genesis of the underlying legislation was to clarify the issues of partial terms and term limits with respect to Public Charter School Board appointments appointment Provisions for some boards and commissions are unnecessarily convoluted and in insistent from statute to statute including appointments to the commission on out of school time this amendment will clarify that a number that a member of the commission on out of school time can be nominated for appointment by the mayor for up to five total full or partial terms that's all this does so if there's no objection the amendment will be accepted hearing no objection it's accepted we have the bill before us as amended discussion Mr chairman yes Mr Parker question can you elaborate on what prompted the change um that is proposed by this legislation I I understood your explanation around the executive nominate nominating and going Beyond term limits but was there an example of that happening with the charter board or one of these other entities that yes there was an example with the charter board and maybe two years ago there was an instance before the committee of the whole with UDC Board of Trustees so we've come up against us several times got it I don't remember offhand others but but nothing pressing as in right now with regard to the commission on out of school time nothing pressing right no that's not correct yeah I think there's somebody on OST who um could be reappointed but we're term limited thank you so it's just you know every as we create boards and commissions every committee writes it a little bit differently it would be great if we had stand standard language uh so if we want term limits then it would be written in the same way and if we don't want term limits then that would be written a certain way uh so when we have term limits like uh I'll say the public Char School Board which is two terms well what if somebody there's somebody on the board right now who was appointed to complete a term and I think he served under that partial term for less than a year and then he was reappointed um and if I remember correctly the public charter school board has a two-term term limit so that's like one year plus his four years is that all uh so we that was the Genesis of this legislation was to fix that uh if there's no further discussion we have the uh bill as amended before us secretary said sure uh we'll have a roll call council member n yes council member Nelle yes council member nadil votes yes council member Parker yes council member Parker votes yes council member Pinto yes council member Pinto votes yes council member Robert White yes council member Robert White votes yes council member Tron white yes council member Tron white votes yes council member Allan yes council member Allan votes yes council member Bond yes council member bonds votes yes council member Freeman yes council member Freeman votes yes council member gray yes counc gray votes yes Council Henderson coun Lis George yes council member Le George votes yes council member McDuffy yes council member McDuffy votes yes chairman mson yes chairman Mendelson votes yes and council member Henderson council member Henderson is absent Mr chairman there are 12 yeses and one absent uh the um the bill as amended is approved unanimously that's going to conclude the business of this meeting there is a community the whole meeting scheduled for January 23rd and with that the time is 2:45 and this meeting is adjourned to that