Council Member Q&A on Curfew, Budget, and RFK Zoning – April 20, 2026
Council Member Q&A on Curfew, Budget, and RFK Zoning – April 20, 2026
During a press availability on April 20, 2026, a District of Columbia Council member fielded questions from reporters on a range of pressing issues, including pending emergency and permanent curfew legislation, the mayor's proposed budget cuts to child care subsidy and the pay equity fund, the RFK campus zoning bill, police transparency, and the ongoing dispute with the Chief Financial Officer over withheld revenues. The respondent expressed optimism about passing the emergency curfew and high confidence for the permanent version, advocated for restoring funding to child care and pay equity programs, and characterized the RFK zoning bill as a procedural next step.
Discussion Items
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Curfew Legislation (Emergency and Permanent): The respondent stated support for both the emergency (needs nine votes) and permanent (needs seven votes) curfew bills. They noted ongoing conversations with colleagues and the mayor, describing themselves as “optimistic” about the emergency vote and having a “high level of confidence” for the permanent passage. They linked the need for curfew to large social-media-facilitated gatherings not seen in prior years.
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Budget – Child Care Subsidy & Pay Equity Fund: The respondent explained that the council overwhelmingly wants to restore the pay equity fund (which had been proposed for elimination) and adequately fund the child care subsidy. The mayor’s proposed child care subsidy funding is about $10–15 million short of current year spending. The pay equity fund provides salary parity for credentialed early child educators (approximately $60 million for salaries, with $12 million for health care budgeted but not the salary portion). The respondent emphasized that child care is early education, not just babysitting, and that the subsidy makes it affordable for working families.
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CFO Revenue Dispute: The respondent detailed that the CFO’s revenue estimates were $850 million too conservative last year, that an additional roughly $240 million from decoupling from the federal tax code has not been recognized, and that reserves stand at 66 days of operating expenses (above the 60-day goal). Total city cash at fiscal year-end was $4.9 billion. The respondent argued these funds should be accessible for budgeting and criticized the CFO for withholding them.
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RFK Campus Zoning: The respondent described the upcoming hearing on the RFK zoning bill as procedural – necessary to update the Comprehensive Plan from “open space and parks” to allow the approved redevelopment (6,000 residential units plus commercial and retail). No significant pushback was expected, noting the prior 11-2 vote for the stadium.
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Empower (Ride in Power): When asked about threats or pressure from Empower, which has been repeatedly declared illegal in court, the respondent said they were unaware of any threats and are not intimidated, adding that “we all have to comply with the law.”
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Capital vs. Operating Budget: A reporter raised resident frustration over spending on stadiums while social services face cuts. The respondent countered that capital investments like RFK are funded by site-generated revenues, not operating dollars, and that such investments will generate future revenue for programs like SNAP, TANF, and child care subsidy. The bulk of stadium spending is years away.
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Ticketmaster Antitrust Ruling: The respondent had not been briefed on the recent judgment and could not comment on its impact on pending ticket resale legislation.
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Delegate Race Politics: The respondent declined to comment on specific accusations in the delegate race, stating a preference for positive campaigning rather than attacking opponents, and declined to answer whether a candidate should resign.
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Police Transparency – 4th District Hanging: Concerning a body found at the 4th District headquarters on April 13, 2026, with MPD not issuing a statement for three days, the respondent said MPD should have “gotten ahead of” the issue, especially given the evocation of historic lynchings. They noted the cause of death (suicide or murder) may take time to determine, and urged transparency.
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Ward 8 Fair Share: Asked about ensuring Ward 8 receives its fair share now that its council member no longer chairs a committee, the respondent noted that all five at-large members represent Ward 8 and that they personally will examine capital projects and social service needs. They added that Ward 8’s lower-income population makes social programs a priority for the entire council.
Key Outcomes
- Curfew Vote Outlook: The respondent stated high confidence that the permanent curfew legislation will pass, and optimism (but not certainty) that the emergency version will secure the needed nine votes.
- Budget Priorities: The respondent intends to vote to restore the pay equity fund and fully fund the child care subsidy, and expects the council to do the same.
- RFK Zoning: The hearing on the zoning bill will proceed as scheduled, with the respondent expecting passage.
- **No decisions were announced on other topics; the respondent deferred or declined to take positions on the Ticketmaster ruling, the delegate race, and Empower litigation.
Meeting Transcript
To do. But they've been quite restrictive, and I haven't seen that that's attracted juveniles simply for the fun of violating the law. Yes. If you can talk a little bit about this question of whether or not you have the votes on the emergency end. When we were here the last time, I know you had mentioned you thought you had the votes. What makes you think on this end, I guess how confident are you going into tomorrow that we may or may not pass on the emergency end if you had to speculate? If I if I had to speculate, I would say I'm optimistic because there are conversations taking place, because there are some efforts at uh looking at uh tweaks to what we have adopted previously, which would make members more comfortable. Uh I mean, frankly, I think all the members should be comfortable because the um this is a phenomenon, a that we we've not seen in years past, maybe last year, but not uh certainly not when I was growing up or any of you were growing up, these large gatherings um facilitated by social media um and maybe in part to uh generate more social media and uh so uh this is something that uh the government needs to come to grips with, and we're not alone. Um this is happening in other cities, so I'm optimistic, but I'm not gonna stand before you right now and say yes, there are nine votes. And on the record, should there be an emergency vote taking place tomorrow? What will be your votes on the emergency end, the temporary end, and the permanent end? Yes. I intend to vote favorably across all three legislations. And as I said, I think uh majority of the members are there as well. Any other questions on this? Yes, more hands. I got it off to other topics. Let's take Megan or Susan Curfew. Uh no, other topics okay. We'll let Megan go first. Okay, thanks. Um I wanted to ask about uh some things on the budget. Obviously, child care and the pay equity fund seem to once again be um a major area of debate for the council this year after the mayor's proposal. I wanted to get a sense of where you stood on the proposed elimination of the pay equity fund. Um obviously the mayor has said that she wanted to prioritize the child care subsidy funding, saying that pay equity fund isn't working as an affordability tool, though others have disputed that is its intent. Um, and I'm wondering how you're thinking about this. Well, I've not polled members, but uh if comments that I've heard as well as where members were last year, uh is if what I have heard is um guidance. I would say that uh the council overwhelmingly wants to see the pay equity fund restored and wants to see the child care subsidy adequately budgeted. Um certainly that's my view. The uh what the mayor proposed with regard to the child care subsidy program is I think about 10, 15 million dollars short of what current year spending is. I do think that there need to be some um control so that the spending doesn't grow beyond what we budget, but it's my hope that we will be able to fully fund what we are subsidizing today with regard to child care subsidy. With regard to the um the pay equity fund, um the uh mayor all but said at her presentation to the council a week ago that uh it was not her desire to zero that out. Um when I say zeroed it out, as I recall the numbers are roughly uh sixty million dollars towards salaries and twelve million dollars for health care, she budgeted the health care, but not the sixty million. Now that's not to say that uh she wasn't looking at cutting it, but it wasn't her intent to zero it out. You'll recall the mayor borrowed a page from the council and had uh with her presentation a contingency list, and this was on her contingency list. And I'm glad that the mayor is um taking guidance from the council and approaching the budget. I just wish I'll leave that alone. Um so it's my hope that uh we will be able to restore the funding to the pay equity fund. Uh let me say this. I think there is a misunderstanding about what these two programs are about. The um city recognized eight years ago that child care is not just simply babysitting, but it is actually an opportunity for early education. There's a whole lot of learning and education that occurs uh at infancy in the first several years thereafter. It's the reason why we have pre-K3, PK4, universal pre-K3 and 4 in the DCPS, because we recognize that this isn't just babysitting, but it's actually early child education. Recognizing that, what the city did roughly a decade ago was to require that early child educators or I could say child care workers have to have credentials. The credentials can be varying from just uh a certificate to a bachelor's degree. If we're going to require these credentials, then the child care workers ought to be paid more. This was legislation the council adopted in 2018 or 2019 that said uh that they should be paid comparable to what DCPS pre-K3PK4 educators get paid. Now the specifics of that or the details of that um could be a little bit different, whether the pay is equal, but the thinking is the theory is the program is the policy is that um these early child educators should be credentialed and therefore should be paid more. That's what the pay equity fund is about. The child care subsidy is addressing the affordability of child care.
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