D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton voiced her disappointment over Congress recently blocking the District’s crime bill, but seems encouraged by several items for the District that are included in President Joe Biden’s proposed budget plan.
One of them is her legislation that would provide a financial boost for D.C. students heading off to college.
Biden’s proposed budget would increase the maximum annual award for the D.C. Tuition Assistance Grant Program, or DCTAG. D.C. students who plan to attend public universities out of state would get up to $15,000 a year — an increase from the current $10,000. The overall total would increase from $50,000 to $75,000.
Norton said that, for her, the DCTAG funding is the most important D.C. provision in the president’s proposed budget.
“He’s got $40 million in there for tuition grants,” Norton said. “This is very important because the District does not have its own university system.”
Since DCTAG was adopted by Congress in 1999, the percentage of D.C. high school students going to college has steadily grown.
In 1999, about one-third of D.C. high school students went to college. Now, nearly two-thirds of them do.
Norton noted that DCTAG is more vital than ever, since the cost of college “has increased dramatically” over time.
Among the other items Norton cites as “victories” in the president’s budget are:
- $48 million for the Emergency Planning and Security Fund (EPSF), which pays for the increased cost of emergency and security planning related to the federal presence in D.C.
- Exempting the D.C. government from a federal government shutdown, if it were to happen in fiscal year 2024
- $93 million for the construction of Howard University’s hospital
The president’s budget, however, tends to be a “wish list” of items the administration would like, rather than a guaranteed set of programs.
House Republicans have indicated they want to rein in spending, and Norton acknowledges it will be difficult to get funding for the change to DCTAG, which she has sought in recent years.
Norton said she remains disappointed that Congress blocked the D.C. criminal code that was approved by the D.C. Council, in the midst of criticism that it lowered penalties for several violent crimes.
“We’ll have to try again,” she said in an interview with WTOP. “And frankly, I don’t see many changes that have to be made.”
Mayor Muriel Bowser, who vetoed the criminal code, but was then overridden by the council, has said she will keep working with local lawmakers to get another version through.
Norton said she’s concerned that Republicans will be closely watching the D.C. bill, potentially to try to repeal it again.
But she still believes a new code will eventually get approved and put into place.
