OUR ADVOCACY AGENDA
The District of Columbia is home to more than 660,000 U.S. citizens who pay federal taxes, serve on juries, fight and die in U.S. wars, and observe all obligations expected of other Americans. What distinguishes the residents, however, is the fact that they are denied the fundamental right to vote in the national legislature where key decisions are made.
Having no voting representation in Congress means District residents are ruled by the legal and foreign policy decisions of elected officials from other states. Moreover, the local laws and local budgets are subject to congressional oversight and can be modified or rejected as a matter of course. On a routine basis, members of Congress use the federal power vested in them by voters from other parts of the country to impose legislation and policy, as well as undermine local elections and public policy decisions made by local elected officials.
DC Vote is working virgorously to educate Americans about our disenfranchisement and also to advance policy and legislation that will grant DC residents the full and equal citizenship they deserve. Learn more about our advocacy work here:
DC residents deserve the freedom to control its own budget, pass its own laws without congressional interference, and have its citizens enjoy equal representation in the US House of Representatives and the US Senate. Get the facts about Washington DC's democratic standing in this quick one page fact sheet.
Currently, the constitution grants Congress full authority over the federal district affairs. This kind of oversight may have been necessary in 1801, but it is now outdated and no longer required. DC Vote is working vigorously to change this oversight arrangement.
Local control over the budget, would allow the District to spend its locally-raised tax dollars without congressional approval and to modify the fiscal year. Local budget control would improve government efficiency while retaining congressional oversight required by law.
Legislative autonomy would eliminate the required passive Congressional review of legislation enacted by the District of Columbia government, without reducing Congressional oversight. If enacted, the bill would end a costly mandate, and align Congressional review of District government laws with current practice.
Creating a new state in order to grant democratic equality to the 700,000 residents can be achieved through the passage of a single piece of legislation and extend the same equal rights that all other Americans enjoy. The Washington DC Admission Act (HR 1291/S 1278) would shrink the current 'federal district' to include the White House, Congressional offices, most federal agencies, and the National Mall while transforming the residential portion into a new state that would provide full Congressional representation and democratic equality.
Click here to see who has signed on to Statehood.