I'm calling over this meeting this is a additional meeting of the council the District of the committee the whole of the Council of the District of Columbia I'm Phil Mendelson chairman of the council and chair of the committee to hold today is Tuesday June 6 2023 the time is 1205 in the afternoon this meeting is being conducted in person in the Council of Chambers from 500 to the Johnny Wilson building although there may be members who are participating virtually and this meeting is being broadcast live on Council Channel 13. and it's also available on the council's website www.dccouncil.gov and I believe is also available on the zoom video conference broadcast platform uh this is an additional meeting of the committee the whole we will be considering a number of measures that have been marked up by other committees and following this meeting we will uh have the regular monthly legislative meeting of the council are we gave We Begin our committee of the whole meetings with determining whether there's a quorum Mr Cash if you would call the role chairman Mendelson president councilmember Allen here councilmember bonds here councilmember Freeman president councilmember Gray councilman gray councilmember Henderson president councilmember Lewis George councilman Lewis George councilor McDuffie here councilmember Nadeau here councilmember Parker here council member Pinto president councilmember Robert White president councilmember Trey and white counselor Treyon white Mr chairman you have the quorum thank you Mr Cash uh there are no measures to mark up in the committee of the whole a consideration of the logs will be at the legislative meeting so we have measures from other committees the first two were reported out of the committee on Judiciary and Public Safety chaired by council member book Pinto they are a PR 25-139 Homeland Security Commission Ramaya Campbell confirmation resolution 2023 NPR 25-140 Homeland Security Commission Wendy the Toro confirmation resolution of 2023 if there's no objection Council uh chairman uh Pinto would you present the two in Block yes Mr chairman no problem these resolutions would confirmaya Campbell and Wendy villatoro to the Homeland Security Commission the resolutions were introduced by Sharon Mendelson at the request of the mayor on March 7 2023 and the committee held a public Roundtable on the resolutions on May 18 2023. the Homeland Security Commission is an independent body tasked with providing recommendations for improvements in security and preparedness in the district specifically the commission gathers and evaluates information on the status of Homeland Security in the district and makes recommendations on security improvements and consultation with major public and private entities and Advising the district government on the homeland security program PR 25-139 would confirm where Miles Ramaya Campbell as a member of the Homeland Security Commission Ms Campbell is an is an intelligence analyst in the district she currently works for a technology firm that uses artificial intelligence to provide intelligence analysis Services Ms Campbell previously worked at the cyber security firm and completed a fellowship with the CIA focused on counter-terrorism intelligence Ms Campbell's work focuses on far-right extremism and disinformation PR 25-140 would reconfirm Wendy villatoro as a member of the commission Miss villatoro has served in the commission since June 2021. she's a Homeland Security and International Security consultant and Scholar who is currently enrolled in a doctoral program in cyber security at Marymount University in Arlington Miss villatoro previously worked in a number of different capacities in the federal government including as a program manager at multiple federal agencies Ms villatoro Specializes in risk management and emergency planning and preparedness both of these confirmation resolutions were unanimously approved by my Committee in a markup held on May 26th I've asked that both resolutions be placed in a consent agenda for today's legislative meeting thank you councilmember Pinto are there questions from members I'm General counsels are these two measures legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes they are I am secretary am I asking Madam Secretary are is the record complete for each yes a Madam budget director do the two measures fiscal impact statements comply with counseling requirements yes they do without objection these measures will be placed on the consent agenda for today's legislative meeting the next the next two measures were reported out of the committee on transportation and the environment shared by council member Charles Allen the first is Bill 25-138 Washington Wizards motor vehicle identification tags women acted 2023. uh sure personnel thank you Mr chairman I introduced Bill 25-138 the Washington Wizards motor vehicle identification tags Amendment Act of 2023 on January 16 2023 along with counselors Robert White McDuffie tray on white Parker Henderson and Pinto the committee on transportation and the environment held a hearing on a substantially similar bill in Council period 24 on July 13 2022 the measure was approved unanimously at an additional meeting of the committee on March 28 2023 this bill would amend the District of Columbia Revenue Act of 1937 to authorize the mayor to design and issue motor vehicle identification tags demonstrating support for the Washington Wizards basketball team the Wizards along with the capitals have played in The District since the opening of what is now the Capital One arena in 1997 meaning they have played in The District longer than any of our pro sports teams as anchor tenants at the arena the Wizards have had a big hand and revitalizing the Chinatown neighborhood during its time in the district the franchise and individual players have brought joy to countless District residents they've raised funds for worthy local causes and they've worked in the community the bill recognizes the significant achievements and contributions of the Washington Wizards by allowing District residents to purchase tags that support the Washington Wizards just like residents can already do for other major sports other major league sports teams based in the district I think it's time we let the Wizards be added to that list of DC sports teams thank you Mr chairman I request this measure be placed on the consent agenda for the legislative meeting to follow thank you our council member are there questions from Members Mr chairman uh councilmember Robert White thank you chairman and uh thank you to council member Alan for moving this measure forward I introduced this bill in the council period 24 to emphasize the district government's commitment to protecting and affirming its transgender this is no questions Mr chairman thanks actually councilman was that going to end with a question mark since I have a hunch you're going to start that over again next measure um if there are no questions from members Madam general counsel is to measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is um secretary's record complete yes it is Madam budget director does the measures fiscal impact statement comply with Council requirements yes it does without objection this message will be placed on the consent agenda for today's legislative meeting the next measure is Bill 25-168 Pride plates Amendment Act of 2023 uh chair Personnel thank you Mr chairman on February 15 2023 Bill 25-168 The Pride plates Amendment Act of 23 2023 was introduced by let me check my notes councilman Robert White along with me and Council Rose McDuffie Parker Freeman gray loose George pinto and Henderson this bill would amend the District of Columbia Revenue Act of 1937 to direct the mayor to create lgbtq Pride motor vehicle identification tags the bill also would direct the revenue from those new tags by amending the office of gay lesbian bisexual and transgender Affairs act in 2006 to establish a new special purpose fund to support programs that promote the welfare of the lgbtq community the committee on transportation and the environment held a public hearing on Bill 24-824 a substantially similar iteration of this measure on July 13 2022 the record of that hearing was incorporated into the committee report and the committee on transportation and environment vote unanimously in favor of the bill at its additional meeting on March 28 2023. as the district and Country acknowledge and celebrate pride month we must take stock of the Decades of tireless advocacy that has resulted in huge judicial and legislative changes regarding the rights of the lgbtq Ia plus community and at the same time we must identify the numerous threats to that progress in States and localities across our country in recent years we have seen A Renewed attack on the humanity of lgbtqia plus people across this country State legislatures around this nation have seen more than 500 bills introduced in their Chambers targeting the lgbtq community bills aiming at limiting access to gender affirming health care and outlawing even drag shows when passing these laws States send a message to Young lgbtqia plus people that they are not safe in schools and they should hide their true identity from their friends from their teachers from their family and it teaches straight cisgendered young people to fear their lgbtqia plus friends more broadly National Data from the federal government demonstrates that anti-lgbtq bias neglect and systemic disinvestment continue to impede lgbtq people's well-being with significant negative impacts observable and homelessness prevalence of under-treated illnesses substance use disorders youth suicide Elder social isolation and many other phenomena that's why in The District we Embrace values of support and respect for all people and this bill would reaffirm our government's dedication to our lgbtqia residents and visitors this measure will give District residents who drive an opportunity to direct small but meaningful recurring contributions to the office of gay lesbian bisexual and transgender Affairs which the office can use to provide grants to local community organizations for Housing Shelter Asylum Youth Services arts and other programs that support the local lgbtq community and they're just going to look good and you're going to be proud to have them on the back of your car thank you Mr chairman and I'd request that this measure be placed on the consent agenda for the legislative meeting to follow thank you councilman Brown uh are there questions from Members Mr chairman for a question councilmember white thank you Mr chairman and uh thank you again to council member Alan for moving this measure forward I introduced this bill first in Council period 24 to emphasize the district government's commitment to protecting and affirming its transgender non-binary intersex two-spirit queer lesbian gay same gender loving pansexual bisexual asexual and other sexual and gender minority residents and visitors and to provide District motorists with an opportunity to provide financial support to local programs supporting lgbtq people in the face of recent disturbing legislation in certain States and acts of violence that harm the lgbtq plus community and in particular transgender people I am especially proud that the district is moving this measure forward to assert our support for the diverse and vibrant lgbtq plus Community whose members call the District of Columbia home I know that there are many who will be eager to put a pride plate on their car councilmember Allen do you have a sense of the timeline for the DMV to design the license plate and when it will maybe available for residents through the chair uh I appreciate the question um I'm hopeful that the DMV is not going to take as long as they have on a law that we passed maybe five years ago now to create a we demand statehood license plate which the DMV has yet to design and uh allow to be purchased to support DC statehood that's been five years I believe um but hopefully the DMV can move much more quickly here I don't think it'll be by the end of this month uh but I do believe that we can work hard to push the DMV to get this done uh this year and that would be my goal so that by next pride month uh we will see these plates sported around DC Mr chairman I have one additional question yes sir um following a very long statement if that's all right yes sir thank you um no for for people who don't have cars but may be interested in um a pride play do you know that there would be an opportunity to buy sample plates that's a great question I do not know the answer to but we can track that down with a DMV and find out thank you thank you thank you Mr chairman uh thank you councilmember any further questions councilmember Parker thank you chairman uh council member Allen and I believe this may have come up in the Committee hearing but are there ways that we could put guard rails on how the money is spent once it reaches the mayor's office of lgbtq Affairs obviously we rattled off a long list of things from housing resources to Grants um and so I guess it's a two-part question if we wanted to let's say extend more housing vouchers for lgbtq seniors how can we put more guard rails there but then secondly is the mayor able to sweep these funds in future years if she wanted to hmm all right I'll take a crack at it um the the revenue that will be generated through the sale of tags like this traditionally on other tags um is substantial but it's modest um and so I want to be upfront about that they typically don't create large large sums of money uh that might be the type of thing that could be transformative from a Housing Voucher as an example the funds typically go to that office and then they have the grant making authority to get those out we then use our oversight uh functions through through the committee to be the guard rails to make sure the dollars are being spent on the right thing um but they traditionally don't generate uh giant sums of Revenue uh in terms of could they be swept for example um I don't I mean I guess because the the mayor could propose a budget that technically looks to uh to sweep one fund versus another I guess it's conceivable um I don't think we've seen that for this fund but again from our budget oversight I think that's where our our work would come into play to safeguard that thank you thank you councilmember further questions from members and general counsel is to measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is Madam Secretary is directed complete Madam secretary's record complete sorry there seems to be a problem with the internet [Music] what did you just say besides there's a problem with the internet yes it is the record is complete Mr chairman thank you um Adam budget director does the measures physical impact statement comply with Council requirements yes it does without objection in this measure will be placed on the consent agenda for today's legislative meeting there's no objection the next two items will be considered uh together they were the next three items were reported out of the committee on business and economic development shared by councilmember Kenya McDuffie the first two are PR 25-178 DC Hebrew language Charter School doing business as Salah Public Charter School revenue bonds project approval resolution of 2023 and PR 25-193 Washington International School revenue bonds project approval resolution 2023 Mr McDuffie thank you Mr chairman PR 25-178 the DC Hebrew language Charter School DBA Sala Public Charter School revenue bonds project approval resolution of 2023 was introduced on March 20th 2023 by chairman Mendelson the request the mayor it was referred to the committee on business and economic development on March 21st 2023 the committee held a public Roundtable on the proposed resolution on May 15 2023 and PR 25-178 uh was marked up by the committee on May 31st of this year the measure would authorize the issuance sale and delivery of District of Columbia revenue bonds and the aggregate principle Mount not to exceed 15 million dollars to assist the school in financing refinancing or reimbursing of costs incurred by the school for its project located at 6015 through 6017 Chillum Place Northeast in ward 4. the next measure of 25- PR 25-193 the Washington International School revenue bonds project approval resolution of 2023 was introduced on April 11 2023 by chairman Mendelson at the progressive the mayor it was referred to the committee on business and economic development on May 2nd of this year the committee held a public Roundtable on the proposed resolution on May 15 2023 and the committee marked up the measure on May 31st of this year this measure would authorize the issuance sale and delivery of up to 62 million dollars in Disco Columbia revenue bonds to assist Washington International School the loan will finance refinance or reimburse costs associated with Renovations on its campus at 3100 McComb Street Northwest with that I move both the measures and block uh and ask that they've been placed on the consent agenda for the council's legislative meeting today thank you councilmember are there questions from Members concerning either of these resolutions and I'm general counsel are these two measures legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes they are and I'm Secretary of the record complete for each yes I heard yes they are uh Madam budget director do the measured Cisco impact statements for the two measures comply with Council requirements yes they do our objection these measures will be placed on to the agenda for today's legislative meeting the next measure is Bill 25-34 expanding access to fertility treatment Amendment Act of 2023. this measure was sequentially referred and the second committee that I'll recognize is the committee on health Chair by council member Christina Henderson but first councilmember McDuffie thank you chairman mendelsohn this measure was originally introduced in Council period 24 and a similar measure reintroduced by councilmember Henderson myself council members Lewis George Parker Robert White Allen Freeman Nadeau and Pinto the purpose of the bill 25-34 is to establish comprehensive insurance coverage for individuals in the district who encounter issues with infertility the analysis recommendations and policy decisions in the committee report print reflect the collaboration and consensus of committee on business sneak on development as well as committee on health a major Focus as our teams worked on this bill was to ensure that coverage extended to every resident of district employment no matter who you love it took time and some back and forth to get the language right but the process at the end of the day is one that I'm proud of and I want to recognize my colleague councilmember Christina Henderson and her team for their leadership and all the work they put in this bill and so I'm going to turn it over to councilmember Henderson to present the details of the bill chairman medicine thank you councilmember Henderson um thank you councilmember McDuffie infertility is a prevalent condition affecting approximately one in ten adults Nationwide and disproportionately impacting people of color many people dealing with fertility challenges aren't unable to receive appropriate treatment because of the cost and the lack of insurance coverage I've heard from numerous District residents who have encountered the cost barriers to accessing fertility care this legislation will remove some of the cost barriers and improve access facility treatment overall I'm especially excited that here at the beginning of pride month this bill will improve excuse me this bill will promote Equity infertility care for lgbtqia individuals and couples by covering medical expenses associated with their fertility needs as well beginning January 1 2024 Medicaid and the alliance will be required to cover diagnostic services and medication therapy such as ovulation enhancing drugs to treat infertility this will align DC with New York to provide the most expansive Medicaid coverage for infertility treatment in the country further the committee print requires the Department of Healthcare Finance to consult with the centers for Medicare and Medicaid services to determine a pathway to expand coverage for IVF and standard fertility preservation Services Under Medicaid the Bill also for private insurance will require health insurance plans to cover Diagnostics and treatment for infertility and IVF including IVF and standard fertility preservation Services the Private health insurance coverage mandate is effective January 1 of 2025 to allow time for insurance companies to implement coverage in their plans and to give disbi an opportunity to conduct an Actuarial assessment to determine specific costs the FY 24 budget funded this Actuarial assessment which will return the information necessary to accurately fund the remainder of the bill in the next budget cycle overall this bill will make great progress towards ensuring District residents are able to access the health care they need to become parents and I want to express my appreciation to councilman McDuffie and his staff for collaboration on this legislation thank you councilmember are there questions from members and general counsel is to measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is madam secretary's record complete yes it is and a budget director doesn't measures fiscal impact statement comply with Council requirements yes it does the objection will be placed on the consent agenda for today's legislative meeting if there's no objection we'll consider the last two measures uh and block you're both reported out of the committee on Health chaired by council member Christina Henderson PR 25-228 Board of Massage Therapy Joanna Brooks confirmation resolution of 2023 in pr25-229 Board of Massage Therapy Maisha Cas John's confirmation resolution of 2023 chairperson Henderson um thank you chairman Mendelson the board of Massage Therapy is tasked with regulating the practice of Massage Therapy including licensing massage therapists and investigating complaints the committee on health held a public Roundtable on these two nominees on May 31st 2023 and afterwards unanimously approved their nominations Joanna Brooks is nominated for a reappointment as a licensed massage therapist member of the board on which she has served since 2018. Ms Brooks is a certified life coach mentor and hypnos she received her massage therapy education from Brian uting school of massage in Seattle Washington and is a ward 3 resident was nominated to be a consumer member of the board she holds a bachelor's degree from Northwestern and JD from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law she's a member of the New York State Bar and is award for Resident I move both of these nominations without objection thank you are there questions from members Madam general counsel are these two measures legally technically sufficient for our consideration yes they are and I'm secretary through record complete for each yes Madam budget director do the measures fiscal impact statements comply with Council requirements yes they do without objection these measures will be placed on the consent agenda for today's legislative meeting that's going to conclude the business of this Committee of the whole the next meeting of the committee the whole will be on uh Tuesday June 20th uh following adjournment we will take a few minutes Mr assistant secretary you are so skeptical we will take five minutes and then we will start the legislative meeting the time is 12 30 and this meeting is adjourned stay on his link councilman wait what did you say oh oh I was asking I also should I stay on this link here yes we're going to start in about 10 seconds I'm calling daughter of this meeting this is a legislative meeting of the Council of the District of Columbia it's the ninth legislative meeting of council period 25. I'm Phil Mendelson chairman of the council today is Tuesday June 6 2023 the time is 12 35 in the afternoon this meeting is being held in person in the council chambers room 500 of the Johnny Wilson building but is also available uh via the Internet Zoom video conference broadcast platform I believe at least one member is participating virtually um and this meeting is being recorded and it's available to the public on the council's website www.dccconsole.gov uh we always begin our legislative meetings with a moment of silence a period of reflection if everyone in the chamber on the days would please respect the moment of silence Madam Secretary would you please call the roll councilmember Allen here that's wonderful bonds here councilmember Freeman president Gray councilmember Gray councilmember Henderson president Louis George president councilmember McDuffie yeah chairman mendelsohn president that's what I'm gonna do here that's Rhonda Parker here Transformer pencil present councilmember Robert White present councilmember Treyon White president Mr chairman you have a quorum oh thank you very much we have the filing reports and special reports I'm going to recognize that share Pro Tem councilmember Kenya McDuffie regarding the secretary's report thank you Mr chairman I want to move to waive the reading of the secretary's report it's an emotion to wave reading of the report is there discussion and the motion to waive the reading all those in favor say aye aye aye are there any opposed uh the eyes have it unanimously we have the introduction and referral of proposed legislation again I'm going to recognize that chair Pro tem councilmember Kenya McDuffie regarding the secretary's report of introductions and I will move to a way to reading of the secretary's report of introductions it's been a motion the way the reading of the report is there discussion Mr chairman that's Rory Henderson councilmember Nadeau I just want to offer my thanks to you Mr chairman and to secretary Smith for the re-referrals of measures that were meant to go to the public works and operations committee that were included in the recent circulation thank you for your work on that sure that's reflected on the log uh further discussion um and the motion to wave the reading all those in favor say aye aye are there any Pogues uh are there any opposed uh the odds have it unanimously I will turn to the consent agenda are there any changes to the consent agenda I'm going to remove five items from the consent agenda and they are on Page Six in top of page seven uh they are contracts with the DC public school system uh number five contract number Gaga 2022 c0259 contract number Gaga 2022 c0142 contract number ghea 2020 T 0125 contract number ghea 2021 c0157 and contract number Giga 2019 C 0010 I'm removing those uh and we will consider those toward the end of the agenda on page 10 when we consider the other two contracts with the DC Public School Systems any other changes to the consent agenda uh we have the consent agenda as modified before us I think we can do a voice vote Madam Secretary since uh 10 members are present which means Mr chairman we do need to have a roll call because we do have some uh we have one member participating all right Madam Secretary we will do a roll call sorry yes that's one betray Ann White yes councilmember Allen yes that's one of my bonds yes remember gray yes that's remember Henderson yes yes George yes okay yes chairman mendelsohn yes that's what I'm gonna do that's remember Parker yes that's remember Pinto yes Mr chairman the 13 yeses thank you Madam Secretary the consent agenda is approved unanimously so I indicated the DCPS contracts will come up um toward the end of the meeting the other two turning to the non-consent agenda on page seven we have Bill 25-164 comprehensive policing and Justice Reform temporary Amendment Act of 2023. councilmember Allen thank you Mr chairman um at this time apologies I'm looking to postpone the measure to the June 20th 2023 additional legislative meeting should one be scheduled or the July 11th regular 2023 legislative meeting uh there's been a motion to postpone there probably will be a meeting on June 20th let's just say to the next legislative meeting um is if there's no objection the motion will be approved hearing no objection uh the measures postponed to the next legislative meeting Mr chairman question yes you've postponed this to the next legislative meaning you mean the June 20th one uh if there's one on the 20th which I expect there will be oh yes yes uh thank you for the clarification June 20th if there's one then or July 11th thank you for catching that turning to page eight we have um the rent stabilized housing inflation protection emergency Amendment Act of 2023 bill 25-293. this measure was postponed from the last legislative meeting at that time the Declaration had been approved that's PR 25-242 so even though it's listed on the agenda we do not need to consider that again it has been approved the measures before us exactly as it was when it was postponed and that means that there's an amendment on the floor uh from council member Pinto I will recognize her thank you Mr chairman um since this since this discussion last week I'm glad our colleagues have been able to come together uh to present a new ANS together that I will um defer to Chairman white on and so I would like to withdraw this amendment all right the measure has been withdrawn there's no objection um and so I'm going to recognize council member Robert White thank you Mr chairman at last week's legislative meeting Council began to consider emergency legislation I proposed to reduce rent for people living in rent stabilized units under the rental Housing Act of 1985 the district limits annual rent increases for units in certain older buildings in a program called rent stabilization or rent control under existing law the maximum rent increase in these units is limited to the Consumer Price Index inflation rate plus an additional two percent capping out at 8.9 percent for seniors and people with disabilities the maximum legal increase at five percent the district's rental Housing Commission approves the maximum increases each year this past January the rental Housing Commission approved the maximum 8.9 percent rent increase for the general population and rent control of the units and the 5 maximum increase for seniors and people with disabilities which took effect on May 1st the 8.9 percent increase is the highest in the 40 years since the rent stabilization program began after many discussions with renters tenant Advocates and attorneys landlords agencies and residents and Council colleagues I and several council members landed on a proposal that I believe effectively balances the impact of Staggering inflation costs on renters with the rising costs of businesses Rising costs of business on landlords the amendment and the nature of a substitute that we are proposing limits rent increases for rent stabilized units to six percent and four percent for renters with disabilities seniors and units leased or co-leased by a community-based Services waiver provider this takes effect on July 1st to capture people who already received high rent increases from May 1st to July 1st of this year the measure sets a two-year cumulative cap of 12 or 8 respectively I want to thank the many residents business owners and support staff who helped us develop this legislation in particular thank you to my colleagues council member pinto frumin and Louis George and they're your staff for working very hard and collaboratively with me and my team on the ANS we have in front of us over the last week thank you also to council members Parker and Nadeau for your additional substantive engagement to the rentflation advocates for proposing language and sharing the real impact on renters to landlords for Illuminating how rental income compares to business costs and to the public for your patients as we sorted out the technical language to make sure we got this right as I shared last week I expect a combination of this reduction and the inflow of federal and local dollars into the emergency rental assistance program will prevent the evictions of many residents living paycheck to paycheck to cover their bills I also hope this measure will allow building owners to cover the cost of maintaining homes for their tenants move the amendment in the nature of a substitute to the rent stability rent stabilized housing inflation emergency Amendment Act of 2023. thank you Mr chairman thank you councilmember white is there discussion from members councilmember Lewis George um thank you chairman um we need this legislation for one reason when the rental Housing Commission improved an 8.9 percent increase this year it failed to protect the district's renters the rent is already too high and the commission's historic rent increases ignored the needs of thousands of Working Families across our city who are already struggling to get by the district Compares unfavorably with our neighboring jurisdictions in Montgomery and Prince George's County which acted with far greater urgency to limit rent increases to 3 percent annually I think the district should have acted much more aggressively to protect renters but in the future we will have to recognize that the mayor's rental Housing Commission has other ideas I want to thank my colleagues Robert White and bro Pinto for working with me and my staff to work on this amendment and the nature of a substitute over the past week to get to a place where our language was cleanly and clearly drafted and where we were able to do a little more to protect vulnerable tenants in the city and I want to thank my couns my colleagues councilman Brianna Joe councilman Zachary Parker and council member trayon white for working and trying to push us to a place that supported our 10 our our residents here in the district the whole purpose of DC's root control program is to keep rent stable for tenants to prevent them from being evicted or pushed out especially in times like these let's not forget that the D.C residents who disproportionately depend on rent control are families with low or moderate incomes 40 percent of renter households make less than fifty thousand thousand dollars a year and 56 percent make less than 75 000 a year and the vast majority of renters in DC are black or Latino these families have the most at stake when we talk about controlling rent I admit that I am disappointed and frustrated uh that um Wards four five seven eight were not at the center at last week's debate um and that to me is a concerning matter and we should move forward um considering these Awards and the impact this will have on them we know landlords want at least the full nine percent rank hike this because they say their maintenance costs have risen which is a real need but tenants are facing higher costs too in every aspect of their life and yet their wages haven't risen nine percent seven percent or anywhere close to that and far too many rent control buildings in in my war that I visit is abundantly clear that the maintenance needs are not nearly uh not newly exaggerated costs but rather reflection of years of unnecessary neglect we need to name that a 12 increase over two years is too high especially for working class tenants east of the park and east of the river who depend on rent control to keep their families High housed I and many of my other colleagues advocated for a 10 cap over two years and I still think that's where we should have landed the council should not have been put in a position to make these changes and that is precisely why we have a rental commission to ensure fair and effective rental adjustments that protect tenants but in the absence of their leadership and these unusual and inflationary times I'm proud of us for stepping up uh and stepping in chairman can have an additional without objection we are at a turning point right now in the district homelessness is on the rise and we have a backlog of vouchers SNAP benefits were reduced by Congress even through food prices even though food prices have never been higher emergency rental assistance despite being restored to last year's funding levels are likely uh is unlikely to last more than half of next year thousands of evictions are happening in our City and more and more residents are being priced out DC out of DC every day and the pandemic led to the most racially and economically unequal recession in our country's history and some of the most vulnerable residents are still recovering this is a perfect storm for Mass displacement in the district that is why we need to act now and create stability and affordability for working class residents I wish we could have done more to protect tenants for rent increases over the next two years but the legislation before us will help prevent displacement in our city and prevent catastrophic rent hikes on Working Families seniors and people with disabilities and none of it would have happened if tenants didn't mobilize and if we didn't fight this fight I like to thank again my staff and councilmember white pensionado and Parker's offices for working together over the past week to get us at this point thank you uh thank you councilmember Lewis George further discussion on this uh councilmember Parker and then Pinto thank you chairman um since I took office in January my team has responded to calls nearly every day from residents who are desperate we've talked to seniors on fixed incomes we've talked to parents who don't know how or where they're going to secure housing for their children we've talked to individuals facing eviction and mind you my office is not the first call many of these residents have made by that time they're reaching out by the time they're reaching out to me their council member they've talked to their landlord they've applied for emergency rental assistance they've looked for leases that they can afford and I know all of us field these calls and The Humbling question we answer when we talk to constituents is how can we help them in profoundly challenging circumstances we had an opportunity to give those residents to answer they deserve that we took Swift action to cap rents at a reasonable rate but that's not what happened instead to answer in March when I first pursued a rent cap proposal then again last week is that process was wielded against them and the help that they needed I want to be very clear about how this happened I want first in March the Department of Housing and Community Development a mayoral agency that administers rent control told the council that it could not absorb or better yet it would not absorb the cost of changing the rent cap on an emergency basis the rationale dhcd Advanced to support that claim was exceedingly questionable and Delayed Action by the council for two months and in sworn testimony before the council we learned that the agency's fiscal officer was not even consulted about the fiscal impact of the legislation in a timely manner the bottom line is that the executive was unwilling to spend one hundred thousand dollars or 1.37 per rent control unit to save District residents from obscene 8.9 increases in their rent then last week when this body finally considered the capital increases we took up the amendment co-introduced by three council members um myself included that proposed a six percent uh cap on rent increases this year and a 10 cap on rent increases over the next two years even though uh I'm sorry even though that proposal was properly noticed and at put it on the agenda instead we considered another proposal that was circulated while we were on the Deus and that was subject of several oral amendments the result was that further delay uh and more disturbingly it created a perception of preferential treatment in the council's process why am I taking up time to tell this long story around what we already know we have now watched months go by without meaningful action or needed relief to rent us across the city and rent control properties I'm glad that we're finally uh taking action to prevent displacement and evictions in the district and I'm excited that we have established caps and increases for seniors uh and those with disabilities at four percent uh and eight percent over two years Mr chairman could I have an additional minute our objection um and where we landed uh with the six percent cap uh for this year and 12 over two years is better uh than the 8.9 that the law currently allows or a once proposed 6.9 uh the extraordinarily High inflation rate of 2002. uh this proposal will allow landlords to reasonably raise their rates to cover increasing costs but more importantly make sure that renters are able to stay in their homes uh but the truth is that delivering relief to renters did not need to take this long or come up this short the truth is that we could have secured relief if the executive acted with a sense of urgency the truth is that the rent cap could have very easily have been lower if this chamber's rules have been applied differently uh the truth is that we could do better for residents who are calling us seeking help every week and the truth is that we can conduct our business in a manner that is inclusive and orderly I conclude with this if we don't uh the future of the city will continue to Trend toward one that is more unequal and unjust and all of us will continue to feel calls from Desperate residents where we offer excuses and not results I plan to vote for uh the amendment and the nature of a substitute but I think it's important for residents to understand how we got to this point uh and that it did not call for a lot of what has transpired thank you Mr chairman oh thank you councilmember councilmember Pinto thank you very much Mr chairman um and I am very grateful for my colleagues that we've been able to come together to move this ANS that will provide immediate and significant protections for tenants in a sustainable manner I want to thank the many residents who we have heard from for many months sharing their experiences and their worries about the rent increases that they are facing or expected to face we know that when families face high rent burdens that they're more likely to forego other necessities including healthy food education and Medical Care the Caps are putting in plays today will protect tenants from drastically high rent increases this year and help to create more certainty for tenants over the next two years I think this piece is critically important for Assurance and consistency so that people can plan uh what what can be expected so we have a six percent cap for this year 12 over two years and four percent cap for seniors or people with disabilities this year and eight percent over two years but the date certain of this July 1st 2023 these protections will be critical to helping residents facing housing instability and risks of homelessness without preventing landlords from making very needed investments in safety and maintenance this will support tenants in the short term and the long term by promoting not only affordable housing today but safe and healthy living conditions tomorrow as many units have many needed repairs that will be foregone without funding that's needed um I really want to extend my gratitude and thanks to council member Robert White for leading on this issue as well as council member Louis George and councilmember Parker and council member Nadeau for putting forward an amendment last week and hope that we can all support this ANS today thank you thank you councilmember council member Allen thank you Mr chairman I want to thank my colleague Council Robert white as I did the other week um for bringing this issue here we simply would not be tackling this issue without your leadership and hard work to get this in front of us so thank you very much um I also want to thank collectively everybody because during what I don't think was our best foot forward last week um I do believe though we landed in a spot which is what we uh several of us that we're proposing and supporting an amendment we wanted to see a six percent with an 8.9 percent cap uh landed on and that's what is reflected here so I think that I am glad that we are essentially where we were last week with the six percent um and I think that when we look at next year and we know what's driving what we've seen with just these Spike and inflationary indices uh which are thankfully coming down um as a legislative body we can always come back and amend things as well so I think that it'll be incumbent upon us to make sure we reevaluate this next year uh to see if the formula that we're laying out right now still holds next year or if we need to be able to make an adjustments to further protect our our tenants and our residents I think we also get caught up though in the percentages and just calling out an 8.9 versus a 6.9 versus a six percent or a 5.5 so let's just talk about the dollars and cents and what it really means to a low-income family uh senior on a fixed income uh somebody who's just trying to make ends meet right the average rent in DC for a one bedroom is about twenty five hundred dollars a month that's the average rent so it's six percent that's a 150 increase over the month over the course of a year that's eighteen hundred dollars the difference between six percent and 8.9 percent though translates into 73 73 bucks per month that's that nine hundred dollars per year that's nine hundred dollars for a senior on a fixed income bill to pay for the things that they need for a working family to pay for the things they need and that's just a one bedroom you can imagine what a two or three bedroom unit is going to be increased so I think it's important as we talk through the percentages that we really talk about the real dollars and what close to a thousand dollars is what we've accomplished here let's not lose fact of that going from an 8.9 increase to a six percent increase translates for some families and will be greater for more translates to a thousand dollars back in the pockets of DC residents that is Meaningful money and resources to help take care of them and their family their housing needs and many other needs at a time when the cost of everything has been going up so I appreciate the hard work of my colleagues I'm proud of the fact that we have landed in this space right now I think it's going to make a meaningful positive impact for our residents uh that we're all working hard to represent so thank you Mr chair thank you council member councilmember noodle thank you chairman while I had certainly hoped for the amendment that we moved last week um me and councilmember Lewis Georgian Parker to pass I am happy to support this ANS and I want to thank councilmember Robert White for his leadership on getting us here when the council first considered his proposal months ago councilmember white proposed a rent cap that was blocked by claims by the mayor that she could not identify mere thousands to implement this but for that we could have moved forward and prevented the rent hike from going up already for many renters I want to thank council members Louis George and Parker for their partnership on our Amendment and their advocacy that has led us to a final version with stronger protection for renters and council member Alan Henderson and treyanne white for their support of that Amendment we have come a long way on this issue we started with tenants and rent stabilized units facing an 8.9 rent increase working together with Advocates and after lots of negotiation and collaboration we've brought that number down and if this amendment is approved we'll also ensure that we are helping tenants who have already seen a high increase this year by instituting a cumulative two-year cap in conversations about whether to Institute a cap on rent stabilized increases and and by how much I've frequently heard that this is only a difference of a few hundred dollars with the implication being that tenants should be able to absorb that I hope we can have an appreciation that for many renters a percentage point or two can mean the difference between staying in your home or not I'm incredibly proud of the work we've done on this Council to better support renters in this budget especially with significant enhancements to e-wrap if we don't do something significant about the looming rent increase crisis many tenants are facing those erap funds will likely be exhausted even sooner than we think our rent stabilization program includes a hardship petition process for property owners it contains no such relief for renters themselves that's something we should keep in mind as we continue to examine and strengthen our affordable housing stock the work we're doing today is against the backdrop of fights for rent caps across the region that that work is ongoing and I hope our work today will make it a little easier for tenants to Prevail in neighboring jurisdictions thank you Mr chairman thank you councilmember Nadal customer bonds thank you very much chairman and thanks to my colleagues for this um what I consider momentous um day for us you know a lot has been spoken about the situation leading to today's vote to adjust the costs of rent control units and value it has to keeping our residents in their homes homes that account for a little more than 65 percent of our residents it is very important that we do all that we can to keep our residents in this city and that's how I look at this bill and I think that's what this bill does we all know that there are costs associated with living in rental property as it is with living you know homeowner property and so that is not lost on us but when because of inflation the cost of housing escalated so drastically something had to be done and I really want to thank councilmember Robert White for being insistent that something had to be done and and he did it and I am also appreciative of the fact that he was willing to accept amendments even though he started out by saying he would not accept any amendments um back in the day now it seems like decades ago and so I'm really I'm really very pleased that as a council we came together I believe we are together to move the agenda forward it may not be perfect for everyone and we do want to make sure that the industry stays with us because well they provide the housing that 65 percent of our residents utilize so we want to make sure that we do everything that we can to keep everyone on board but this is a very important measure and I'm kind of happy that we you know defer to today because it gives it the kind of standing that it should have um everyone should be very much aware of what we're doing um and so until that day when um rents are naturally lowered and the landlord Community or as they are officially Call the Housing provider Community can find a way to reduce the cost of what they provide I'm very happy that we're able to move to today thank you chairman thank you thank you customer bonds councilmember Freeman thank you very much Mr chairman um I I too think that it was it was a journey but I think that we got to a very good place and we've gotten to a place of predictability and we've gotten to a place where we have pushed the cap down um nearly as far as The Advocates who started out had pushed for initially I want to thank those people for all the work that they've done because we started at 8.9 we went down to 6.9 and 5 and now here we are at six and four and I think that that is excellent and wouldn't have happened but for the advocacy of of the folk some of the folks who are here in the room and of my colleagues um I I uh I think council member Louis George really played a leadership role here and I want to thank her for her leadership and the work that she's done I think the council member Alan spoke to a thousand dollars a year in savings for tenants and I think councilmember Lewis George council member Nadeau council member Parker councilmember Henderson council member Allen all and council member Tran white all contributed to pushing it to get to that place hats off to you um one of the things that I found to be a challenge in this whole discussion was we have very imperfect information about what the burden on landlords is what the real costs on landlords are how are those comparing uh the increases in those costs comparing to inflation and I think one of the things that we need to do as a council going forward is get that information and think about how we approach rent stabilization going forward we've had a lot of discussion with imperfect information now and done the best we can and I think we've done really well but I think one of the big messages of it is that we need to step back take the time to look at this the this landscape and figure out how to make this work for as many of our stakeholders including our landlords and our renters going forward so thank you very much thank you councilmember Freeman if there's no further discussion we have the amendment nature of a substitute before us uh Voice vote on the amendment all those in favor say aye aye aye are there any opposed uh the eyes have it unanimously uh we have the bill as amended before us is there yes uh you've been uh noted as uh yes councilmember white um we have the bill as amended before us is there discussion uh Madam Secretary I'm guessing you would prefer a roll call vote so if you would do a roll call vote the vote is on Bill 25-293 is amended by the amendment nature of a substitute councilmember Cheyenne White councilman Tran White I'll come back to you councilmember white the audio isn't working absolutely yes can you hear me yes thank you councilmember Tran white votes yes councilmember Allen yes councilmember Alan votes yes councilmember bonds yes councilman bonds votes yes councilmember Fullman yes councilmember Freeman votes yes councilmember Gray yes that's remember gray votes yes Husband by Henderson yes customer Henderson votes yes comes from Blue Storage yes that's one of Louis George votes yes McDuffie votes yes chairman mendelsohn yes chairman Mendelson votes yes comes from Bernardo yes husband yes councilmember Parker yes remember Parker votes yes councilmember Pinto yes councilmember Robert White yes house remember Robert White votes yes Mr chairman there are 13 yeses uh the um bill as amended is approved unanimously uh the next measure is law enforcement arrest Authority technical correction emergency declaration resolution 2023 PR 25-255 council member Pinto thank you very much Mr chairman today I'm moving the law enforcement arrest Authority technical correction emergency Amendment Act of 2023 an Associated emergency declaration this emergency legislation makes a technical correction to this section of the DC code section 23-581 that provides Authority for law enforcement officers to arrest persons without a warrant having been issued in limited circumstances specifically subsection A3 provides that Authority where the officer is probable cause to believe the person has committed the offense of fleeing from the scene of an accident and has reasonable grounds to believe evidence of drug or alcohol use will be lost if the individual is not immediately detained that subsection of the code directly references the name of the offense which is called fleeing the scene of an accident and the section of the code where the offense is described is DC code section 50-2201.05 A so in 2013 the council passed the comprehensive impaired driving and alcohol testing program Amendment act which changed the name of this offense to quote leaving after colliding the 2013 act also changed the location in the code that this offense is described specifically the disc description was moved from DC code section 50-2201.05 a to 50-220.05 c unfortunately at that time the council failed to make a conforming amendment to section 23-581 to correct the now a outdated name of the offense and the new location of the offense's description in the code absent legislation now to correct this erroneous cross-reference MPD has shared with me that their Law Enforcement Officers May lack the authority to make an arrest without a warrant in these limited circumstances given the nature of this offense that is a person who may be under the influence of drugs or alcohol attempting to flee the scene of Crash where officers lack this Authority it will be quite difficult to enforce impaired driving offenses making our roadways less safe for residents this is important Public Safety clarification it is critical that we adopt this emergency legislation today to clarify the law I want to underscore that this is not a change to current policy or practice and in fact is commonplace across the country but a technical correction to this drafting error from 10 years ago last I will note it will be necessary to address this via a permanent emergency excuse me via permanent legislation as well and I'm working now with the executive on a plan to do so as soon as possible but this emergency will provide us with the time necessary for that work as well I move the emergency declaration thank you councilmember we have the Declaration before our sister discussion uh the vote will be on the Declaration Madam Secretary would you call the rule that's remember Allen yes that's remember Allen votes yes councilmember bonds yes councilman bonds votes yes councilmember Freeman yes councilmember frumin votes yes customer Gray yes that's from the gray votes yes that's one by Henderson yes house remember Henderson votes yes comes from Louis George yes councilman believes George votes yes remember McDuffie yes Transformer McDuffie votes yes chairman Nelson yes chairman Mendelson votes yes yes that's what I'm gonna go votes yes councilmember Parker yes that's remember Parker votes yes councilmember Pinter yes that's one of pinto votes yes Transformer Robert White yes that's one of Robert white folks yes councilmember Tran White yes husband betrayal Mike votes yes Mr chairman there are 13 yeses thank you Madam Secretary the declaration has approved unanimously we have the underlying Bill Bill 25-305 councilmember Pinto I move the emergency Act uh the bills before us is there a discussion uh by voice photo all those in favor of Bill 25-305 hi are there any opposed Madam Secretary I don't see a hear any no votes do you agree the bills have proved unanimously the next measure is pr25-244 Xenia Street tree removal emergency decoration resolution of 2023 council member trayon White yes chairman thank you I'm moving this emergency uh today on behalf of the residents of 400 block of his English Street and their Community uh in November 2022 indeed I planted 22 trees on this block and made me received pushback from the community due to a mistake on ddot's notice identifying the 600 block and not the 400 block of condensers as the area of planting trees after some discussion DDOT remove 14 of the trees uh the three main entries to be removed are adolescence America American basswood trees that may grow up to 60 feet tall and 30 feet wide uh they are near the property line of the walkway for four fifty is the industry a condominium the owners are not asking for the trees to be removed but to be replaced and a replacement can take place on the same block residents of this condominium have since requested a final remove the trees based on an evaluation of the property value and the reasonable fear that these trees once mature will be large enough to make it difficult to see through and around the walkway you went to the public safety concern the requests have been uh at our performance budget hearing and also through phone calls and emails prior to drafting this emergency to the director of elite DDOT directed a lot asking for replanting of trees uh from the property line of Virginia a 450 Xena Street and to my understanding that that the question was denied the advised me because we commissioned AE has written a resolution as D not to remove the tree the owner's bit of the maintenance and cause will fall upon them to maintain the trees they grow through the sidewalk they also believe that DDOT has been has not been a good partner in the maintaining of these trees uh proving to you or potentially over one of these trees and behind the condo I really appreciate the support of this emergency we need uh we have the Declaration before us is there discussion councilmember Allen thank you very much uh Mr chairman um I know we talked about this briefly at the breakfast meeting um and I want to be uh respectful of course to my fellow award colleague and what I think he is trying to accomplish at the uh request to some of the residents here so I want to just represent um what I have learned from the Department of Transportation um just to make sure that the the facts are out there from their perspective um the trees are planted in the public right away and they were replacing disease trees uh and so a large number of trees had to be removed and then DDOT and their Urban Foresters work to create a replacement plan um that notice uh went out in December of 2019 and the planting was completed about a year later in November of 2020 after that as I think my colleague noted there were then some concerns raised uh in Spring of 2021 DDOT met with residents and Property Owners on site they removed 14 of the 22 trees that were planted there um but DDOT uh has has told me that they strongly disagree with this emergency legislation and the executive branch has also said they support ddot's position and do not support this um the census tract where where these trees are located has the second highest heat island effect in the district um planting additional trees and expanding our tree canopy is one of the ways that we address that um I know we I think many of us have now seen pictures of these trees they're about six inches in diameter um and fairly small trees um and so I I would share the perception from DDOT and from their professional Urban Forest uh team that we would want to keep these trees in a particular make sure we're growing our canopy um I think that's an important part of that I know that there were Community walkthroughs uh that looked at almost two years ago a community walked through that resulted in the current configuration of this uh where the trees are and again I think we've had some pictures that have been shared to take a look at this um so I just want to share that that I do believe that uh this is I'm going to back up DDOT on this one um in terms of not supporting removing these trees I don't think that's the role that we should be playing um I would if I can with my remaining time councilmember Tran white if I could just ask a question because one of the things that got pointed to me was um in the emergency it's not it doesn't specify which trees the legislation seeking to remove the legislation says remove the three trees located on or near the property line and walkway and one concern is that it also would not clearly tell DDOT If This Were to pass which trees are actually the problematic trees I just wanted to ask if you want to clarify for the record which trees you're referring to yes thank you councilman Allen um these are the trees that are along the actual walkway uh they are not designated by any number or letter to give a special specificity to where the trees are we provide it they provided a picture to give Clarity on that um the picture was provided to I believe you chairman um and if need need to be some clarity on this probably label the trees ourselves but those nutrients that are closer to the Star Wars okay um I guess I'll I'll just end I think I I think we don't want to remove our tree canopy I think we want to do everything we can to expand our tree canopy and I think we know um the many effects that are well documented about making sure that you've got a successful healthy uh tree canopy and what and how that improves and supports a community so I will not be supportive um this emergency today thank you Mr chair oh thank you uh let me see questions to speak at this time Mr chairman can ask a clarifying question yes councilmember Henderson um councilmember white I think you mentioned in your statement that the community wanted the trees removed and replaced or was that inaccurate that was accurate uh the issue was not with the trees itself I heard about the economic impact of creating uh trees and environment needed there I think that's needed all throughout the district um but the issue was the type of trade is and how the tree long term could have effect uh on the property how big and massive these particular trees grow so they were asking about a replacement of the trees um and a different type of tree yes thank you uh customer Tran white you wanted to be recognized again uh I I just want to give everybody on that chairman and also to one of also to alert members that you know we believe in creating uh trees and what trees has has to do has done for an environment and we've been working with Casey trees uh throughout the war and several different projects but again we want to note that these are homeowners who are concerned about the value of their home with them have to be responsible for these particular trees and I just believe that DDOT can be more friendly in responding to needs of the community uh with their requests and if they're requesting different trees I don't see what the big problem is like and it's almost the government's imposing its will on its residents and we use the government the government's uh technical issue to gentrify this type of leadership which is unacceptable in our community and so I I asked all my colleagues to go in favor of this uh and especially to the place to retrieve with some more reasonable trees okay councilman bands um thank you chairman um I wanted to ask a question of councilmember Treyon white vau um are we to understand that the issue that the community has is with the type of trees that are planted and they want a replacement of those trees yes ma'am all right thank you Mr chairman councilmember McDuffie um a question to to councilman Trail white I do want to recognize though for for some who might be at home listening I think at least for me this measure is a more complicated issue than it may seem on its face initially uh and while I push as Ward five council member to expand the tree canopy in certain parts of Ward five namely Ivy City I also recall some of the pushback I got from Neighbors because uh there was very little space along the street to plant trees and thus DDOT created uh tree boxes that and went into the actual Street and were bump outs from the sidewalk that took up parking and created an issue for Neighbors who were more concerned about the parking than they were about having a better tree canopy in the community and it seemed to pit those two issues against each other one around uh the desire to address heat effect on the heat island effect in Ivy City uh and a community that had very little tree canopy in certain streets and the history of this investment in the community uh with the real desires and quality life issues that homeowners raise with parking and I see some similarities in in this debate here this morning with the need to expand the tree canopy in parts of the city that I think perhaps have been neglected in in previous years and I think this Council has been really conscious of doing that and I appreciate our efforts over the last several years to expand the tree canopy uh in parts of the city wars five seven and eight in particular um and the expertise of the urban forestry professionals uh and how they are planting trees and maintaining trees I will tell you I still question whether there is appropriate level of consultation and engagement in the impacted communities and sharing the representation of councilmember Trail white uh has expressed about homeowners taxpayers of Ward 8 who have a real concerns around public safety quality of life and what the community actually just Desires in terms of these trees is something that resonates with me um and to see the pictures and thank you for sending the pictures Council military and white of what the trees look like but also thinking about what they will look like in the future and then looking at the mature trees that seem not to have received this sort of upkeep necessary to um to really I think have residents want to have additional trees in their community so um I I had a question initially but I don't know that I even need to ask a question uh in order to support this at this time I hopefully they can be better engagement customer why do you know whether uh the folks in the government DDOT et cetera engage the community about what types of trees would be planted no I don't I know I do know that one of the real issues is that DDOT has to take the ownership that ill uh these trees should have been located at the 400 block of carniters uh but they planted them at the 600 block of a disease uh and so definitely I mean that's another issue that I'm not sure that they spoke to councilman Allen about that that to my understanding that was place as well so um another type of trees so just for clarification are the trees that we're talking about in question still planted at the location that was where they were planted by mistake yes they just removed 14 of them additional minute Mr chairman without objection I realize the health benefits of planting trees and and think it's absolutely necessary but I do think you know better coordination with the impact Community would be helpful and I don't want to minimize the concerns have been raised by the residents in Ward 8 and the the need for the council member to even move this type of emergency legislation so I'm going to support it today uh councilmember Robert White uh thank you Mr chairman I have uh two two uh concerns the the first is is um what's now for me confusion I thought that this was a public safety issue with the trees now I'm hearing the concern is uh the residents um near the trees don't want these kinds of of trees um and so I would appreciate some clarification on the reason behind the emergency the the from my colleague councilmember Treyon white the other question I have but I don't I don't think councilmember white will have an answer to uh but if he does I welcome it but we all need to understand I I do think that there is a need for better engagement on pre-planting and removal but uh the last I checked we planted the city planted some eight to ten thousand trees a year and I don't know at this point how we engage residents um in planting of that many trees particularly when we can't give folks veto power in that decision making process so I I find myself wanting us to have more public engagement by having no idea today what that engagement should look like but on the issue of the need for this emergency one why why does this need to be emergency as opposed to having a hearing but two what's the underlying reason is it public safety or is it the preference of uh residents nearby because of the height of the trees I'd appreciate clarification I believe that the Lo-Fi interrelated Public Safety and the issue from residents of those being uh too close to their home once matured and on shooting upon the walkway um I think they're both for them are issues that the residents and we are trying to adjust in this emergency legislation uh if you I mean let me say this uh on insurance agenda street is in is what is considered the number one most dangerous neighborhood in Washington DC 22nd in the country um and that walkway in which it uh shows through those particular condos and apartments uh is an area that residents want to be safe and they're afraid that once those trees get too big then it's going to create an issue where people can't see and the lighting that was provided there will be covered up by the trees and right now it's not an issue yet but once matured the residents think that that walk path will become a safety issue uh because that's one of the highest prime areas in the nation's capital yep uh councilmember Freeman did you want to be recognized yeah oh are you done Council memory I had 13 seconds Mr chairman um I I appreciate the um uh answer from council member Treyon white that the rate of growth on these trees is something I think we need to to look at but also I think the the lower trees may cause more safety issues because the branches will be lower I I don't assume that the trunk of the tree uh is going to be the problem or at least not for the next maybe 50 years but the branches so maybe a tree that grows taller may be better for Public Safety uh thank you chairman uh thank you sorry to cut you off councilmember Freeman uh thank you Mr chairman I have a question that that actually may go to council member Allen um so as I've been listening here it has changed a little in my mind because my impression was this was legislation to call for the removal of three trees that had that was that I thought that was relatively straightforward now I'm hearing that it's different than that that it's replaced three trees with a different but not that the legislation so the legislation isn't clear but the conversation has been that it would be to replace three trees and move the three trees to another place which has less of a kind of tree canopy issue and I just wonder whether DDOT has ever considered I don't think I hadn't heard it that way so I'd be surprised if DDOT had considered it but are you aware of DDOT considering the idea of moving the trees and replacing them so that there was a net gain to the tree canopy is that to me Mr that's to you through the chair um the Department of Transportation removed 14 out of the 22 trees that were planted they moved some trees other locations um but to what's in front of us I can only speak to what's in the legislation and the legislation says shall remove the trees it does not speak to moving them replanting them different species it just simply says shall remove the trees no I I understand that and that's how I read it and heard it earlier today I do wonder whether or not I wonder about why this is an emergency um the trees if they were to grow to be the kind of problem that was talked about it's going to take an awful long time so um I think we have time and I wonder if there's an opportunity to go back to DDOT ask them to do this different thing which is replace them and move them and then meet the community's needs I I can understand the frustration that DDOT may be experiencing because they had an engagement they got an agreement to remove 14 trees and then all of a sudden then then there's a different request but if there's a way to square this circle where um what's what councilmember white is today proposing that's not in the legislation was amenable to DDOT that would be swell Mr chairman uh motion to close debate an emotionally close debate the effect of which is that uh anyone who has spoken will not have another opportunity to speak anyone who has not spoken will have one opportunity to speak there's no objection the devotion will be approved hearing no objection it's improved customer nado yes thank you chairman um I think it's important to note that between 2015 and 2020 DC lost 565 Acres of tree canopy this was covered in DCS this spring they noted it's the equivalent to gouging a hole in the city's Greenery the size of the National Mall that translates to one percent lost in tree canopy in the city and that's despite all the planting we're doing we're not doing a good job of preserving the trees that we have it's been noted the importance of trees in alleviating heat deserts we certainly have that issue in Ward one in in our case we've even been willing to give up parking in order to gain trees but I am no stranger to the issue of Public Safety related to visibility in sight lines and the ability to um work with and around existing trees so I would certainly offer myself um to share the things that we've done in Ward one in these circumstances where MPD has been concerned about the size of a tree in an area where they're trying to gain visibility where we've worked with DDOT and dgs to um sort of thin the tree out for First Sight lines um so I hope that this might be an option as those trees grow bigger certainly if you look at them now it's hard to imagine them growing to um to to be a visual obstruction but I do hope that they get to live that long life and grow that big um which is why I can't support this measure thank you chairman thank you councilman Nadeau uh councilmember Pinto thank you Mr chairman um council member White I'm not sure what the rules of the debates being closed are on me asking you a question so I guess I'll form this in a statement which is I am concerned about supporting this measure today for many of the reasons that have been articulated about the importance of the tree canopy but I am especially sensitive to your concerns about the potential Public Safety ramifications especially at a later date I think as I look at the pictures of the trees now that look quite narrow and quite small um it's hard to imagine that but I just heard your recent point about over many years this could create a challenge and so I am so it would support uh other colleagues recommendations to perhaps pull this today um Beyond make sure that colleagues can have a little bit more information over the next several weeks try to work with DDOT on if something else can be worked out and if if you can't could move this at the July meeting but I can't support this today but I'm interested in working with you on this issue um if you were interested in pulling this today and we could continue conversations especially about the public safety matters thank you thank you um I'm going to speak to this briefly I hope and that is to say as an as a member of the council who's elected city-wide board eight is my constituents and I have to say I'm alarmed at proposals that we've had uh that last week to cut roughly 40 million dollars in projects uh from wardy which would treat Ward 8 unequally to other Awards with regard to Street improvements and now this legislation which really surprises me that we spent This Much Time on the issue of removing three trees as I noted at the breakfast the public policy which is reflected in the law of the District of Columbia that this Council adopted a number of years ago is that we want to increase the tree canopy as councilman nadone noted over the last few years the tree canopy has actually gotten smaller there are many reasons why trees are considered valuable and the suggestion that trees hurt property values is simply not supported by the evidence now there was a node in councilmember White's on notice that says DDOT maintain means that there was an agreement with the community to remove 14 of the 22 trees so here we are removing the rest of the trees and also it is stated clearly in the Declaration which is before us quote at the basis the basis for removal is to avoid any interference with the property line and to avoid a threat to the safety of residents because there is a concern that bad actors can use to trees to avoid detection and jump out on residents to Rob or commit other crimes unquote so that's the basis it's in the Declaration that is before us right now if we approve it I saw the pictures of the trees on the street which are about four inches in diameter which is maybe the diameter of my elbow or arm or whatever this is and I don't think there are very many Bad actors who can use that to avoid detection quote to avoid detection and jump out on residents unquote I think this is a very bad precedent if the council is to proceed to vote by legislation to order the department of uh the Department of Transportation to remove trees when it is our goal our policy to increase the tree canopy if the issue is that DDOT needs to work better with the community I won't argue with that the trees shouldn't be sacrificed to make that point uh I would hope that councilmember Allen will pursue this with oversight as y d dot uh or how DDOT can improve its communication with the community but the trees should not be the victim of this and I won't be supporting this declaration and I would urge other members uh to not support this as well I believe everyone has spoken Madam Secretary would you please call the roll the vote uh yes councilmember White yeah uh I'm gonna make a statement before you take the roll call please as the maker of the motion you may yeah um so for for the sake of clarity I understand I'm going to remove this from an emergency agenda today I do want to say that uh you know it's becoming an ongoing thing um that the the people in DC and not just on this issue but many issues around Public Safety around ticketing around fries and fees around businesses around housing uh when residents have issues what they want to see happen in our city uh it's like the city is imposing this willing residents we're wondering why we were trying to get to a million people but the population is decreasing right because the city um it is a top-down approach like if you're an engagement and as I've heard from the libraries to the recreation centers from the public safety issues uh I'm not people are not being heard and as a result people are going to make decisions about where they live based on uh the way the city treats them how they feel comfortable living in the city right you can't go in the way you won't get a ticket uh you can't eat comfortably uh the price of the food is going up it's just becoming a place where we have to figure out what the happy medium is and this is one of many issues I'm concerned about as we Advocate and standing the guy from residence and while our homeowners stating what they need in the community and based on however that be that dead but no one doesn't want to admit right to the public so uh I'm gonna remove this amendment in hopes that we can figure out something to make sure these people's property and homes are safe and and that warp area is safe because we're not the people walking through this at night time uh we're not the people that are getting robbed and those in those walkways right there's several problems right there already and so I removed this but I hope that we can just have more sensitivity and push the agencies to be more sensitive to our residents or we'll be losing them as we've already lost twenty thousand black residents in the last 10 years thank you thank you council members so the measure is withdrawn uh the next item is pr25-253 2023 Women's World Cup emergency declaration resolution of 2023 councilmember McDuffie thank you Mr chairman uh the 2023 Women's World Cup Tournament is scheduled to occurred between July 20th 2023 and August 20th 2023 in the host nations of Australia and New Zealand this event takes place every four years and is a Super Bowl type sporting event for soccer fans Australia and New Zealand are ahead of the District of Columbia about 14 and 16 hours respectively notwithstanding the time difference local soccer fans are expected to watch the 2023 Women's World Cup Tournament regardless of the hour to meet the demand some licensed establishments will likely want to amend their hours for this sporting event to allow on-premises retailers manufacturers and temporary license holders to remain open for operations sale service and consumption alcoholic beverages during the hours of the World Cup Tournament as it's been done previously emergency action is necessary so that licensees can Avail themselves of the extended hours with that I move the Declaration thank you councilmember we have the Declaration before it says our discussion Madam Secretary would you call the role the vote is on PR 25-253 councilmember bonds yes that's one of a bonds votes yes that's remember Freeman yes member Freeman votes yes councilmember Gray yes that's one of the gray votes yes that's remember Henderson yes that's remember Henderson votes yes customer believes George yes George votes yes councilmember McDuffie yes that's one by McDuffie votes yes chairman Mendelson yes Cameron Mendelson Fields yes councilmanado yes that's one minute votes yes councilmember Parker yes Parker votes yes comes from a pinto yes Transformer pencil votes yes councilmember Robert White yes councilmember Robert White votes yes customer betrayanway yes councilman betray on white votes yes councilmember Allen yes that's remember Allen votes yes Mr chairman they're 13 yes thank you Madam Secretary the declaration has approved unanimously on the underlying Bill build 25-302 councilmember McDuffie so moved discussion uh by Voice vote since the Declaration was approved unanimously by Voice vote all those in favor say aye aye opposed I don't see or hear any no votes do you agree Council uh uh Madam Secretary agreed Mr chair uh the bills approved unanimously the next measure is pr25-254 medical cannabis manufacturer clarification emergency declaration resolution of 2023 councilmember McDuffie thank you again Mr chairman during the 2021-22 open application period for a cultivation center registration the medical cannabis manufacturer license category did not exist in the District of Columbia prior to March 22nd 2023 a cultivation center registration was required to manufacture medical cannabis products in the district a number of cultivation Center applicants that scored 150 points or more applied to the alcoholic beverage and cannabis board with the intention of manufacturing medical cannabis products as part of their business plan on March 22nd of this year the medical cannabis Amendment Act of 2023 effective March 22nd 2023 took effect which requires a medical cannabis business to obtain a manufacturer license to manufacture and sell medical cannabis products for resale with the open application period for unlicensed establishments including retailer and internet retailer applications beginning on November 1st of this year it is imperative that the district increased the production and the availability of medical cannabis products in the district consequently it is necessary for the council to pass the underlying legislation on an emergency basis with that I move the Declaration thank you councilmember we have the Declaration before this is there discussion uh the vote will be on the Declaration Madam Secretary would you call the role that's member Freeman that's number three main votes yes that's Robert Gray yes that's one of the great votes yes councilmember Henderson yes that's remember Henderson votes Yes councilmember Lewis George yes that's One Believes George votes yes councilmember McDuffie yes councilman McDuffie votes yes chairman mendelton yes Cameron Mendelson votes yes customer Bernardo yeah that's where I'm going to know folks yes councilmember Parker yes that's one but Parker votes yes Council yes remember Pinto votes yes councilmember Robert White yes customer Robert White votes yes councilman betrayal rights yes that's one betray on white votes yes councilman by Allen yes comes from Allen votes yes councilmember bonds yeah yes sorry that's one of the bonds folks yes Mr chairman they're 13 yeses thank you Madam Secretary the uh declaration is approved unanimously we have the underlying Bill Bill 25-303 councilmember McDuffie so move it's our discussion since the Declaration was approved unanimously we'll do a Voice vote on the bill all those in favor say aye aye aye are there any no votes Madam Secretary I don't see you hear any no votes do you agree I agreed Mr chairman bills approved unanimously uh continuing we have a compensation system changes for non-union uniform members of the fire and Emergency Medical Services Department emergency declaration resolution is pr25-232 council member bonds thank you Mr chairman today I'm moving an emergency approval resolution to increase the salaries of 60 fire and Emergency Medical Service Department employees who are not covered by a collective bargaining agreement on December 19 2022 the council approved a collective bargaining agreement with the International Association of firefighters local 36 which represents certain employees in the fire and Emergency Medical Services Department they are in the individuals who are affected are Class 8 Battalion Chief and Battalion Chief paramedic class 9 Deputy Chief and paramedics and Class 10 assistant chief the resolution will increase pay through the financial plan of 2027. on an amount of 5.7 million dollars in local funds from the workforce investment fund the non-local portion of the races will be covered by federal private and special purpose Revenue funds this collective bargaining agreement Palm eyes for retroactive salaries increases of 2.5 percent from FY 21 3 FY 22 and 3.5 in fy23 as well as an increase of 3.5 for fy24 however some of the non-union positions that did not receive their increases and so this resolution will provide for these employees with the same retroactive and prospective salary increase increases ensuring pay Equity between our Union and non-unionized employees their salary and pay adjustments are being moved as an emergency so the department of human resources and the office of the Chief Financial Officer can act quickly to coordinate distribution of the raises and the retroactive payments and I asked my colleagues to please support this measure thank you chairman thank you councilmember bonds is there discussion on the Declaration we'll have a roll call vote on the Declaration PR 25-232 Madam Secretary that's from McGrady yes Robert gray votes yes councilmember Henderson yes remember Henderson votes Yes councilmember Lewis George yes councilman Lewis George votes yes Transformer McDuffie yes comes from bernadelle votes yes thanks Robert Parker yes that's from a Parker votes yes councilmember Pinto yes councilmember Pinto votes yes councilmember Robert White yes councilmember Robert White votes yes comes from betray on white yes that's one betray on my votes yes that's Robert Allen yes that's remember Alan votes yes council member bonds yes councilman bonds votes yes and council member Freeman yes that's one refrigerment votes yes Mr chairman there are 13 yeses thank you Madam Secretary the declaration has approved unanimously on the underlying resolution PR 25-233 comes from her bonds so move Mr chairman uh thank you discussion uh since the Declaration was approved unanimously we'll do a Voice vote on this this is a vote on PR 25-233 all those in favor say aye aye are there any opposed um secretary I don't see you hear any no votes do you agree I agreed Mr chairman the resolution has approved unanimously the next measure is special education for young adults and the custody of the Department of Corrections uh the emergency declaration is PR 25-256 council member Pinto Mr chairman today on behalf of the mayor I along with the chairman and moving the special education for young adults in the custody of the Department of Corrections emergency Amendment act 2023 an Associated emergency declaration this legislation would designate the department of corrections as the district agency responsible for provision of a free appropriate public education or fape to eligible individuals in Doc custody for members unfamiliar under the federal individuals with disabilities Education Act or idea the district law student age residence in Doc custody are entitled to receive special education and related Services if they were previously identified as a student with a disability or had an individualized education plan there must however be a district agency designated as responsible for providing these services this emergency legislation designates doc as having that responsibility some background for the last two school years special education services for eligible doc residents have been provided by Maya Angelou Public Charter School under a temporary Charter authorization from the public charter school board that temporary Charter authorization expires at the end of this school year and on August 4th 2023 this year responsibility provide those services will again rest with the district with that in mind earlier this year doc through ocp issued a solicitation for a contractor to provide special education services to eligible students and Doc custody for school year 2023-2024. that contract is sole source and would re-engage Maya Angelou PCS to provide these Services Doc's role is to administer that contract however for the contract to be executed doc must be designated as the agency responsible for provision of these special education services it is critical then that we passed the emergency legislation before us today if not execution of this contact contract will be delayed and with it special education services for these students would be delayed specifically where there is delay to this contract it is almost certain that school for these students will not start on time potentially opening up the district's litigation not to mention the direct educational loss for these students members may ask why we'd make Doc rather than DCPS responsible for by for providing these Services I will not go through the whole history year but DCPS was previously responsible for providing special education services to residents at the jail unfortunately the agencies struggled to provide services as required and the executive made the decision to broadly rethink which agencies should bear this responsibility following those deliberations doc was identified as the best choice that said my committee intends to explore this more fully in the coming year possibly including permanent legislation on the provision of these special education services and frankly general education services for residents at the DC jail today however is not the day to have that debate Mr chairman because I've got 30 20 more seconds without a protection as I noted if we do not move this emergency legislation forward today special education services for these students will be unacceptably delayed we must approve this legislation so that the contract can move forward for members of any concerns I want to note that little is actually changing here my Angelo PCS provided these services at the jail for the last two years and will do so again next year all that will change is who oversees the contract instead of PCSB it will be Doc and of course the executive more broadly and the council I'll note that we already approved doc taking on this role in the upcoming school year the mayor proposed in the FY 2024 budget four million dollars to Doc to administer that contract and we approved that same investment last Tuesday thus I moved the emergency declaration uh thank you councilmember we have the Declaration before us uh you've circulated an amendment to the Declaration do you want to move that yes I would like to move the amendment up to clarify some wording in this bill our regulations currently lay out the one at Lea that is a local Education Agency must provide a free public appropriate education to students with disabilities under five dcmr section 3002.2 and Lea is not required however for student-aged adults in an adult Correctional Facility where in their last placement prior to incarceration the individual was not identified as a child with a disability or did not receive an IEP that language however is subject to two exceptions Services must still be provided if the student was one identified as a child with a disability and received Services under an IEP but left school prior to being incarcerated or two did not receive an IEP at his or her last educational setting but was otherwise identified as a child with a disability a number of students are eligible for special education services pursuant to these exceptions this amendment makes a small clarifying edit to the emergency declaration to more clearly reflect those two exceptions and our intent of course emergency declarations do not control the effective emergency acts however it has been raised that a court could read this Omission as the council endorsing a narrowed reading of the eligibility regulations I do not believe the executive intended to narrow eligibility for special education services and I know that is not my and I imagine the council's intent to narrow it thus I'm moving this amendment to clarify this wording my staff circulated the text of this amendment yesterday morning and moved the amendment we have the amendment before us is there a discussion alsoever Parker thank you for that comprehensive uh overview of this councilmember Pinto I uh I do have a statement but first I just want to clarify can you just restate the amendment I don't have it in front of me but it's you don't have to read all of that but if you could just yeah sure so basically if a student um had an IEP at their previous school they need to continue to get special education services while they're a resident there are two exceptions for that that I want to make sure so that it's more inclusive which is if you had an IEP but left school before you were incarcerated or you otherwise had been deemed to have a disability but not formally through the IEP so we want to make sure that we're more inclusive for services for special education at the jail got it um another question and then I'll get to the statement uh with I'm generally supportive of all of this uh I did though hear from some Advocates uh concern about a reduction in programs and services at the jail and so by turning jurisdiction over to Department of Corrections um that essentially would give them authority to in the contract I'm I'm assuming and unilaterally reduced Services um I guess I'm asking would that give them authority to unilaterally make decisions around the contract or would anybody else have a say in that so this emergency today provides doc with a legal obligation to extend the contract um otherwise they have not only about an obligation but they cannot move forward with these services so I believe we have to move forward in this way today I will say though to your other concern it is an issue that we are tracking very closely we have heard similar concerns about other programs and making sure that we're expanding services at the ready Center and other Education Services as opposed to limiting them got it and I I will just end with my statement which is kudos to uh Maya Angelou which I think by all accounts has been doing a great job providing services to young people incarcerated uh and young people that need special education services so I'm I'm glad that you're putting this forward and I'm happy to support it thank you Mr chairman uh thank you further discussion regarding the amendment in I'll just pile on to say kudos to Maya Angelou which has done a fabulous job over the years and I'm glad that there will be that sort of continuity in what you're talking about um if there's no objection the amendment will be accepted uh hearing no objection it's accepted we have the Declaration as amended before us for the discussion Madam Secretary would you call the role the vote is on PR 25-256 as amended thanks Robert Henderson yes remember Henderson votes Yes councilmember Lewis George yes that's one Louis George votes yes councilmember McDuffie yes that's one of my McDuffie votes yes chairman mendelsohn yes Cameron Mendelson votes comes from benidelle yes Parker yes Parker votes yes councilmember Pinto yes Transformer Pinto votes yes councilmember Robert White yes that's one of Robert White votes yes Council of a try on white yes that's one betray on white votes yes friends remember Allen yes councilmember Alan votes yes councilmember bonds yes councilmember Freeman yes councilmember Freeman votes yes and council member Gray yes that's what I'm a gray votes yes Mr chairman there are 13 yeses thank you Madam Secretary the Declaration is approved unanimously we have the underlying Bill Bill 25-307 councilmember Pinto I move the emergency act we have the bill before us is there discussion uh since the Declaration was approved unanimously we'll do a Voice vote on Bill 25-307 all those in favor say aye aye aye opposed I'm secretary I don't see or hear any no votes do you agree agreed Mr chairman uh the bills approved unanimously the next measure is pr25-257 office of administrative hearings jurisdiction emergency declaration resolution of 2023 council member Pinto thank you Mr chairman today on behalf of the mayor I along with council member Nadeau and moving the office of administrative hearings jurisdiction emergency Amendment Act of 2023 and Associated emergency declaration this emergency legislation transfers authority to review appeals of denials of applications for concealed pistol licenses from the concealed pistol licensing review board to the office of administrative hearings the legislation would also repeal language establishing the review board shifting this authority to oah will allow the district to realize a number of efficiencies for one it will consolidate our firearm related appeal review process currently oah adjudicates appeals involving firearm registration certificates but not those involving concealed pistol licenses although both types of appeals arise under the Firearms control regulations Act of 1975 and require similar expertise having oah administrative law judges review both types of appeals will also make appeals processes more efficient reduce confusure reduce confusion for appellants and reduce administrative redundancies among other efficiencies of note in the fiscal year 2024 local budget Act of 2023 which we approved last week on second reading the funding and ftes associated with this proposal today were already transferred to oah this emergency legislation makes the necessary changes to the code to effectuate this transfer of authority while it would have been most efficient to include this language of the budget support act the language amends our criminal code such Amendments have a 60.30 day review period and inclusion of that language the BSA would have been permissively extended the period for Congressional abuse not just for this provision but for the entire BSA it's my understanding that the executive will be introducing a permanent version of this legislation quite soon which I intend to prioritize that said the statutory amendments providing oah with new Authority need to be affected by the start of fiscal school year 2024 on October 1st of this year that permanent legislation could not realistically be effective by that time thus it is necessary that we adopt this emergency legislation today and move the emergency declaration oh thank you councilmember we had the Declaration before us is there a discussion Mr chairman councilmember bonds um yes um through you to um council member um Pinto um would you sort of explain to us the value of this proposal that is being made today as it relates to um I believe it's about guns and how they are handled sure this is a purely administrative move um currently the process by which somebody applies for a license to have a concealed pistol um goes through a different board so if they get denied they appeal to that board um but the office of administrative hearings is really the more appropriate venue to hear those appeals and so we think that this is just going to create more efficiencies in that process but it is not going to change the underlying substance of what what that process looks like and would you say that this change in process would also um make it seem more impartial when you have the appeals process in place with a different entity I have no comment on the impartiality of the current system I think that it this is just going to improve the efficiency of handling those appeals um but the underlying law or rights that individuals have as it relates to their applications will not be altered thank you thank you councilmember bonds further discussion chairman councilmember Nadeau just want to note for the record that this legislation aligns with the budget recommendation made by the Committee on Public Works and operations for FY 2024 Additionally the conforming Amendment also clears up confusion regarding violation of Rights and Firearms related cases as its own subsection and violation of Rights for blind and physically disabled persons as its own subsection I think councilmember Pinto for moving this with me and on behalf of the mayor and I uh we we did not want to do that as part of the BSA for various reasons but it is appropriate to do so today thank you councilmember further discussion the secretary will call the roll on PR 25-257 Central Storage Yes councilmember Lewis George votes yes how's Warner moment Duffy yes that's one of me Daffy votes yes chairman Mendelson yes chairman mendelsohn votes yes councilmember Nadeau yes husband bernardelle votes yes councilmember Parker yes councilmember Parker votes yes councilworm but Pinto yes that's remember Pinto votes yes council member Robert White yes that's remember Robert White votes yes councilman betray on white yes councilmember Allen yes that's from Alan votes yes councilmember bonds yes customer Barnes votes yes councilmember Freeman yes councilmember Freeman votes yes councilmember Gray yes comes from the gray votes yes and council member Henderson yes councilmember Henderson folks yes Mr chairman there are 13 yeses thank you Madam Secretary the declaration has approved unanimously we have the underlying Bill Bill 25-310 council member Pinto I move the emergency Act uh the bills before us is there a discussion uh since the Declaration was approved unanimously we'll do a Voice vote on the bill again build 25-310 all those in favor say aye aye aye are there any opposed um secretary I don't see or hear any no votes do you agree okay Mr chairman bills improved unanimously uh we're turning we're going to turn now to the um seven contracts uh from DCPS five of which were were listed on the con or were on the consent agenda and are listed on pages six and seven of the agenda and then the two that are on page 10. uh if there's no objection we will proceed with considering them and I say that because the contracts were not Technic all seven were not technically followed by last Wednesday's deadline although they have all been filed they were filed by Friday evening um and if there's no objection I will move the seven declarations in block and I'm going to have to read each one Amtrak number gaga-2022-c-0259 with Sodexo magic LLC approval and payment authorization emergency declaration resolution of 2023 that's PR 25-208 pr25-209 contact number giga-2022-c-0142 with maximum healthcare Staffing Services Inc approval and payment authorization emergency decoration resolution 2023. Pier 25-258 contract number Goga 2020-t-0125 with CDW government Inc approval and payment authorization emergency declaration resolution of 2023 er25-259 contact number giga Dash 2021-c-0157 with G8 with um high-tech Solutions Inc approval and payment authorization emergency declaration resolution of 2023 there might be a typo in the measure itself or maybe it's on the agenda it just repeats to Gaga number twice next is pr25-260 contract number ghea-2019-c-0010 with vision Security Solutions LLC approval and payment authorization emergency declaration resolution of 2023 PR 25-50 modification numbers two and three to contract number goga-2021-c-0074 with curriculum Associates LLC approval and payment authorization emergency declaration resolution of 2023 and PR 25-213 modification numbers three through five and seven through ten to contract number ghea-2022-t-0067 with Gordon Food Service Inc approval and payment authorization emergency declaration resolution of 2023. those are the seven contracts those are the Declarations which are moving in Block there will be amendments to four of the underlying bills uh because they were filed earlier and DCPS has identified some modifications but also to make clear that with some of these contracts but we're approving uh is either the contract information that was given to us along with payment or we're simply approving the payment um it depends on the particular contract um these contracts are part of the group of 36 that I've discussed at previous legislative meetings I will explain this way that on February 10th the committee of the whole held a hearing with DCPS on contracts that we had identified at that point uh two of which were Sodexo magic and DC Central Kitchen it's blanking on the name um and in the course of that hearing we identified that there were additional contracts that DCPS had entered into that had not been approved by the council even though they uh were for more than a million dollars um after at least a month the DCPS finally identified that there were 36 such contracts I had asked at the times that all 36 come to us at once we would get to sit here and listen to me read all 36 it was painful enough reading the seven of the 36 11 are uh current that means this fiscal year as of this day we've already approved for DC Central Kitchen and I don't remember the other three uh so of the 11 that are current this year there are seven remaining and that's the seven that are moving now I will say by additional Background by way of additional background that the committee of the holds had two hearings the Committee on Public Works and operations has had one hearing because there's a bill relevant to this in addition the board of anti-deficiency review has looked at this they've referred the matter to the Inspector General and um as members know who are at the breakfast this morning the Chief Financial Officer has made some changes to his processes so the payments will not be made on contracts that have not um that are over a million dollars that have not gotten Council approval the uh seven that are before us my understanding is that since February uh there have not been payments made even though goods or services have been delivered as a matter of equity the district is obligated to pay for goods or services that it receives and um if we do not approve these then the vendors would have recourse to the courts to seek payment this is not a very good situation for the council to be in to be approving these contracts retroactively and also to be approving these contracts in the context of 36 contracts that just simply oh I forgot to send them to the council but nonetheless a good government dictates that we look at these and my recommendation is that we approve these and the underlying bills with amendments are limited in their scope as I indicated earlier so that the payments can be made and that it is our intent that if there has been any bad behavior I'm not saying there has been I'm not saying there hasn't been that that bad behavior is not excused by our ratification of or by our action today that might be the more correct way to put it our action today uh so I moved the seven declarations as their discussion council member bonds yes thank you chairman um I'm trying to find the one curriculum Associates which I have and I did not see them in the lineup maybe I'm misreading something uh yes it's on page 10 it's at the top of the page page 10. okay thank you did you have a question um no I was just trying to keep track of of these documents and to Mark in my records those that we are just paying because we have a purchase order and those that we're paying because we're approving the process thank you uh well we do have paperwork for all of these although the paperwork may not be complete for all of the option years previous options let me be clear may not be complete for pre all of the previous option years there's no further discussion we'll have a roll call vote the roll call is on the seven declarations Madam Secretary McDuffie yes that's one of them exactly folks yes yes Cameron Nelson votes yes that's where I'm going to do that's where I'm going to do votes yes that's wonderful Parker yes councilmember Parker votes yes councilmember Pinto yes that's remember Pinto votes yes House member Robert White yes that's remember Robert White votes yes councilmember Treyon White yes that's one betray online votes yes remember Allen yes remember Alan votes yes Transformer bonds yes husband yes that's from the Freeman votes yes that's remember Gray yes that's one of the gray votes yes that's remember Henderson yes that's remember Henderson votes Yes councilmember Lewis George yes councilman Lewis George votes yes Mr chairman there are 13 yeses uh thank you Madam Secretary the Declarations are approved unanimously if there's no objection I'm going to move the seven contracts in Block I have amendments to four of them and I will briefly explain the four amendments um on page six the contract with CDW government Inc that's gaga-2020-t-0125 um there was an amendment that was circulated it was circulated yesterday the amendment reflects correct correct um reflects Corrections recommended by general counsel to clarify that the council is only approving contracts in excess one million dollars uh the on page seven the contract with vision security that's um gaga-2019-c-0010 the amendment there circulated today the amendment clarifies which option periods for the contract are being approved the contract with curriculum Associates uh ghea Dash 2021-c-74 the member was circulated yesterday the amendment reflects corrections to the contract modifications originally submitted to the council the amendment aligns the contract with the correct modification amounts and the fourth amendment is to Gordon Food Service Inc that's geoga-2022-t-0067 that amendment was circulated yesterday and this amendment reflects an additional modification to be approved the amendment does not change the not to exceed amount for the goods and services so if there's no objection to moving the seven contracts four of which have these amendments all of which were previously circulated is there discussion the um since the Declarations are approved unanimously I think we can do a voice word on these seven contracts the seven bills so all those in favor say aye aye opposed on your see or hear any no votes Madam Secretary you agree agreed Mr chairman the bills are approved unanimously that's gonna take us to Temporary legislation there's no objection we will consider the five in a block that would be Bill 25-294 rent stabilized housing inflation protection temporary with the understanding that this reflects the emergency as amended and general counsel that's clear enough for the record yes it is Mr chair uh Bill 25-306 law enforcement arrest Authority technical correction temporary Bill 25-304 medical cannabis manufacturer clarification says emergency should say temporary Bill 25-308 special education for young adults and the custody of the Department of Corrections temporary and Bill 25-311 office of administrative hearings jurisdiction temporary having no objection this five or before us is there a discussion the vote will be on the five on manufactory would you call the rule general medicine yes Cameron Mendelson votes yes that's what I'm going to do yes councilman Adele votes yes Parker yes Transformer Parker votes yes council member Pinto yes that's one Pinto votes yes councilmember Robert White yes council member Robert White votes yes councilmember Treyon White yes that's one of the Treyon white votes yes councilmember Allen yes husband Alan votes yes councilman yes yes let's remember Gray yes that's one for gray votes yes that's remember Henderson yes councilmember Henderson votes Yes councilmember Lewis George yes customer Lewis George votes yes and councilmember McDuffie yes that's where I'm with McDuffie votes yes Mr chairman there are 13 yeses uh thank you Madam Secretary the five Temporaries are approved on first reading unanimously I believe that concludes the business of this legislative meeting the agenda says the next legislative meeting is July 11th there'll be an additional meeting next Tuesday to consider the budget support act I expect there'll be an additional meeting on the 20th um as well as the committee the whole uh and I'm not sure actually if that's an additional or regular legislative meeting on the 20th and secretary do you remember it would be uh and then we have the meeting on July 11th uh the time is 2 29 pm and this meeting is adjourned