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Writer's pictureCenter for Local Policy Analysis (CLPA)

CLPA Weekly Policy Recap (August 1st-August 7th) and List of Upcoming DC Area Policy Meetings

Updated: Sep 3, 2021

A number of County and City Councils are on recess for August, but there was still a lot of activity last week. Here is CLPA’s weekly recap of what occurred last week as well as a list of upcoming meetings.


CLPA Weekly Recap (August 1st-August 7th)


Maryland

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan recently announced new vaccination protocols for Maryland state employees who work in group settings. Effective September 1st, employees in 48 state facilities will be required to show proof of vaccination, or adhere to strict face-covering requirements and submit to regular, ongoing COVID-19 testing.


Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks reinstituted an indoor mask mandate due to a continued rise in COVID-19 metrics. This mandate affects all residents and visitors over the age of five, even if they are fully vaccinated. The mandate went into effect Sunday, August 8th at 5:00 p.m.


The Montgomery County Council, voted, unanimously, to require all residents, regardless of vaccination status, to wear face coverings indoors now that Montgomery County has become an area of “substantial transmission” of COVID-19. The mandate took effect on Saturday, August 7th at 12:01 a.m.


Virginia

It was announced last week that, in the fall, Alexandria City Public Schools will require masks for everyone inside all buildings and school vehicles regardless of vaccination status. The decision was made during a special school board meeting and public hearing last Tuesday. The hearing was originally planned to discuss the American Rescue Plan (ARPA) Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief III Fund.


Washington DC

At its most recent Legislative Meeting, the DC Council took the second of two necessary votes on the Local Budget Act, which is the component of the District’s multi-bill budget package that deals with specific dollar amounts. After last weeks’ vote, one more budget vote remains for the Council, which will happen at the next Legislative Meeting this Tuesday, August 10th. It is at this meeting where the Council is set to vote on the Budget Support Act (BSA).


The Council budget approved include these additional provisions:

  • $41 million in total aid for excluded workers ($15 million in the original proposed draft budget, $20 million added by the Council at the prior meeting, and a further $6 million added now)

  • $6.1 million for additional violence prevention programs, including funds for the Office of the Attorney General’s Cure the Streets program and the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement Leadership Academies, and other efforts

  • Funding to hire full-time school librarians at all DC Public Schools that do not currently have one on staff

  • $5 million for new Metropolitan Police Department recruits and cadets

  • $5 million for $500 payments to the DC residents whose unemployment insurance payouts were delayed by sixty or more days

  • Funding for Yards and Canal Park maintenance, staffing for the now-public Roosevelt High School pool, and a roving Ward 7 Clean Team

These recently passed provisions build on the budget items passed during the Council’s last budget meeting. These budget items include:

  • “Baby Bonds” of up to $1,000 a year to be provided to low-income youth at age 18 for educational, entrepreneurial, or property ownership uses

  • Expansion of Paid Family Leave for medical/self-care from two to six weeks

  • Initial steps to expand all three categories of Paid Family Leave (parental, family care, and self-care) to 12 weeks

  • $50 million in public housing repairs

  • Providing stable housing for over 3,500 residents facing homelessness or precarious housing

  • Provide increased wages to infant and toddler educators at childcare providers

  • Expand DC’s Earned Income Tax Credit, later be paid out a monthly basic income

  • Breaking up the dysfunctional Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs into a construction-oriented Department of Buildings and a consumer-oriented Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection

  • Pilot funding for the Generating Affordability in Neighborhoods (GAIN) Act, to allow for the conversion of unaffordable housing into affordable housing using funded covenants

  • Funding for the creation of the Office of the Ombudsperson for Children, the Office on Deaf, DeafBlind, and Hard of Hearing, and the Deputy Auditor for Public Safety, a recommendation of the Police Reform Commission

  • $80 million in additional relief for hotels, restaurants, and small businesses

  • Civil legal services for low-income individuals facing eviction and loss of services


August 9th-August 13th Meetings


Washington DC

Prince George’s County

Charles County

  • Charles County Commissioners

Alexandria City

Arlington County





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