Below are some highlights from our January Legislative Session and current legislative activity. Click here to watch the January votes.
Correction - Redistricting Council Districts
In the December edition of The District 5 Download, I erroneously reported that an attempt to introduce a suspension of council rules in order to introduce the Redistricting Commissions' map was not supported by any of my fellow council members. The council members from District 1, Liz Walsh, and District 4, Deb Jung, did both support my motion, but the effort needed four votes which we could not secure. My apologies for the incorrect summary of that effort.
Citizens Election Fund
The voters approved the creation of a Citizens Election Fund in 2016. I did not support this program because I oppose subsidizing political campaigns with tax revenue, but it is nonetheless current law and should function as intended. When a technical ambiguity in the code was identified, the CEF Commission requested that the County Executive's office file legislation to "fix" the problematic language which it has declined to do. Three candidates, incumbent councilmembers Rigby and Jung, as well as County Executive candidate Allan Kittleman, have committed to using this fund, which is currently unavailable to the candidates. In response, I introduced CB6-2022 to address the issue and release the funds. Because of the 60-day effective date on council bills, the Fund would remain closed until April. Many stakeholders are urging the Council to approve it as an "emergency" bill, eliminating that 60-day hold and making funds available in February, which I will support. Action on this matter will unfold during the next 2 weeks ending with a vote on February 7.
January Veto Override of CB 78
The Council approved this bill to further tighten our already incredibly strict Forest Conservation law. The County Executive vetoed the bill which I believe was the right decision. These policies create significant impediments to commercial development, job growth and stability of our non-residential tax base, which is the critical portion of our tax base that brings revenue without the high cost of residential services. I was the sole vote against the bill in December and voted against the veto override in January.
