D.C. Councilmember Mary Cheh and Colleagues Reintroduce Bill to Establish Votes for D.C. in U.S. House of Representatives

For Immediate Release

January 8, 2019

For More Information Contact:

Danielle Burs

D.C. COUNCILMEMBER MARY CHEH AND COLLEAGUES REINTRODUCE BILL TO ESTABLISH VOTES FOR D.C. IN U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Bill one of first on first day of new Council Period

WASHINGTON, DC – On January 8, Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh reintroduced the Delegate Voting Rights Amendment Act at the first regular Committee of the Whole meeting of the Council of the District of Columbia’s new Council Period. The Act complements other efforts at fuller representation for D.C. residents that require action by Congress. However, this bill takes a different approach. The Delegate Voting Rights Amendment Act relies on authority that Congress already gave the District of Columbia in the Home Rule Act. That authority permits the passage of local laws which amend Congressional laws regarding D.C. affairs through Council legislation or ballot initiatives. Councilmember Cheh’s legislation would amend the Delegate Voting Rights Act to provide D.C.’s delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives the right to vote on any matter “restricted in its application exclusively in or to the District.”

Councilmember Cheh has been a leader in promoting this innovative approach, both through her academic writing and in her role as legislator. On July 11, 2017, Councilmember Cheh introduced the original Delegate Voting Rights Amendment Act (D.C. Bill 22-0394) with the support of nine other members. And on June 11, 2018, local public policy organization DC Appleseed received approval from the D.C. Board of Elections to place such legislation on the ballot for voters to enact. If the Council doesn’t move forward on the legislation, DC Appleseed and others will do so with the initiative. Two other efforts to advance D.C. democracy by passing local laws have already worked – a referendum which changed D.C. from an appointed to an elected attorney general model and a referendum which established autonomy for the District over its own local budget were both passed and implemented without interference from Congress.

Today, Councilmember Cheh was joined by several of her colleagues in reintroducing the Delegate Voting Rights Amendment Act. Members Anita Bonds, David Grosso, Brianne K. Nadeau, Brandon T. Todd, Trayon White, Sr., and Vincent C. Gray signed on as co-introducers. Councilmembers Kenyan R. McDuffie and Jack Evans joined as co-sponsors. These supporters alone would provide more than the minimum number of votes needed to pass this legislation.

Passing the Delegate Voting Rights Amendment Act will not only give District residents greater voting representation, but it will help make the District’s lack of full enfranchisement visible to people across the country who are ready to stand up for voting rights. It is part of a broader push which includes Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton’s introduction of the Washington, D.C. Admission Act (H.R. 51) and DC Appleseed’s lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Castañon v United States (1:18-cv-02545-RDM-RLW-TNM).

Walter Smith, Executive Director of the DC Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, enthusiastically supports the reintroduction of the Delegate Voting Rights Amendment Act and wrote, “We should pass this legislation because it is a tool within local control that can advance DC democracy. If we don’t use every tool we have to advance that cause, we are unlikely ever to fully achieve it.”

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For over 20 years, through litigation and other methods, DC Appleseed has helped make the District of Columbia a better place to live and work. We have developed proposed solutions to some of the toughest problems, worked to get our proposed solutions adopted and implemented, and monitored the implementation to make sure it actually improves services to District residents, particularly low-income residents and people of color. Learn more at www.dcappleseed.org.