Sessions Votes to Restore Role of Congress in DC Funding

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Pete Sessions (R-TX), chairman of the House Rules Committee, today issued the following statement on the House’s passage of a bill to repeal the Local Budget Autonomy Amendment Act of 2012, to amend the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to clarify the respective roles of the District government and Congress in the local budget process of the District government:

“The Constitution grants Congress exclusive legislative authority over the District of Columbia, and while the Home Rule Act of 1973 gives D.C. the ability to pass legislation on strictly local matters, it maintains the role of Congress to appropriate funds. The Local Budget Autonomy Act will potentially place the District in violation of the Antideficiency Act, and subject not only elected officials, but D.C. government employees to administrative and criminal penalties. This legislation directly benefits the individuals at risk and reaffirms Congress’s power of the purse.”

For more information on H.R. 5233, Clarifying Congressional Intent in Providing for DC Home Rule Act of 2016, click here.

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Created:
May 25, 2016