The Legal Clinic’s 2024 Funding and Reform Priorities
The oversight and budget season has begun and, once again, D.C. residents will face a challenge to having their needs recognized and prioritized in the upcoming budget. Narratives focused on themes of funding restrictions, hard decisions, and austerity are already being promoted by some throughout D.C. government in an effort to lower the expectations of community members for an equitable budget. Meanwhile, the fact is that, every year, the mayor and D.C. Council have to make hard decisions. It is our duty as community members and advocates to hold them accountable and persuade them to make the right ones. Budget choices that dismiss the real and most basic struggles and needs of D.C.’s lowest-income, Black residents should not be the default option for another year.
The Legal Clinic continues to advance advocacy that centers housing and racial justice for D.C. residents. Budget cuts and further underinvestment in human services cannot be D.C.’s response to increasing rates of homelessness, soaring housing instability, and plummeting housing affordability. It is disingenuous for the D.C. government to emphasize restraint and scarcity in funding fundamental human needs while simultaneously and eagerly proposing funds for nonessential interests of the wealthiest residents and billionaire sports team owners. It is misguided and shortsighted for elected officials to endorse a narrowed commitment to “public safety” that centers crime prosecution and law enforcement resources while planning to decrease funding and programming that actively keeps residents and families safe, fed, protected, and housed. Ultimately, D.C. has the funds to meet the needs of those who struggle the most. The mayoral administration and D.C. Council must find the willpower to stand up for community members and remove programs that serve D.C.’s most marginalized residents from the funding chopping block.
While some of our 2024 priorities are not specifically linked to FY25 budget funding, all of them require D.C. to commit to prioritizing fundamental resident needs and services. Funding essential programs is critical, but D.C. must also ensure that funds are being used to serve communities well. Residents must be respected and protected, the provision of human services must be high-quality, and programs must be accessible and legally compliant. We join our community member, Fair Budget, Way Home, and Just Recovery DC campaign partners in urging D.C. government to always make the decision to support and invest in its people.
Check out Legal Clinic’s 2024 Funding and Reform Priorities and stay tuned for updates.
