Greetings Ward 8 Residents,

Last week, the DC Council heard Mayor Muriel Bowser and her team present the Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) Budget and Financial Plan as part of the District’s annual budget process.

I was pleased to see the number of investments committed in the FY22 Budget. Still, I raised follow-up questions towards investments made in public safety, seniors, education, and a commitment to maintain quality medical services at the United Medical Center while the new hospital is completed.

The budget also includes a $6.9 million investment into senior internships. I hear from many seniors who are falling behind economically as the price of living goes up in DC and they are on a fixed income. 

Overall, I believe the investment made in the FY22 Budget will go a long way for the residents in the District. 

Regards,

Trayon White, Sr.

Ward 8 Wins in the Mayor’s Budget Proposal

Employment, Entrepreneurship and Amenities

• $500K for Dream Grants to support small business owners in Wards 7 & 8

• $27.7M to invest in new grocery stores, food markets, and restaurants in Wards 7 & 8

• $6M to the Anacostia BID to invest in arts spaces around Anacostia

• $26.5 million to provide seniors, youth exiting foster care, families enrolled in TANF, returning citizens, and residents who are homeless, with a laptop, tablet, or smartphone. Smartphones and tablets will come with one year of free data. This investment also funds a call center to help residents troubleshoot technology issues

• $49 million to expand subsidized employment and training opportunities through the DC Infrastructure Academy, Project Empowerment, WIC training partnerships, and apprenticeships

• $900,000 to support Go-Go, the official music of Washington, DC, through events and education; and

Education, Libraries and Recreation

• $6.1M to launch new microtransit routes serving 20+ elementary, middle, and high schools in Safe Passage areas in Wards 7 & 8 

• $3M to add early childhood education seats at Moten Elementary School 

• $6.4M to add Hart Middle School to the capital improvements plan 

• $36.2M to advance modernization of Ketcham Elementary School 

• $41M to modernize and renovate Green Elementary School 

• $48.6M to modernize and renovate Martin Luther King Elementary School 

• $61.7M to modernize and renovate Garfield Elementary School 

• $80M to modernize Bard Early College High School 

•  $20.1M to renovate the Parklands Turner Community Library

• $20.2M to renovate the Douglas Recreation Center

Health

• $5.8M for School Based Mental-Health expansion

• $328M to continue the construction of a new hospital at St. Elizabeth’s

Transportation

• $10.2M for safety improvements along the Alabama Ave SE corridor

• $39.4M to build the Shepherd Branch Trail, $6.4M for the Suitland Parkway Trail, $5.4M for Oxon Run Trail Phase 2

• $20.5M for a new pedestrian and bicycle bridge over Suitland Parkway connecting the Barry Farm community to the Anacostia Metro station 

• $12.5M to finish the new South Capitol Street Trail in 2022, providing a connection to National Harbor in Maryland

Housing

• $2 million to the Douglass Community Land Trust to acquire affordable commercial and residential properties

• $23.5 million to help low-income first-time homebuyers with down payment and closing cost assistance

• $400 million to the Housing Production Trust Fund and $42 million of investment in project-sponsor based vouchers to make housing deeply affordable to low-income residents

• $352 million in rent and utility assistance to prevent evictions through the DC STAY program

• $5 million to restore vibrancy to previously disused properties in neighborhoods most affected by violence

• $11.4 million for cash assistance for returning citizens, financial coaching, and the hiring of peer navigators to help returning citizens with the transition back into the community and on the path to economic opportunity

Public Safety

• $7.8 million for additional violence interrupters and $400,000 for additional credible messengers

• $4.5 million to expand the DC Pathways program serving 100 more at-risk individuals per year

• $1.9 million to expand access to trauma-informed mental health services

• $5.6 million to create 278 dedicated employment opportunities through the Department of Public Works for residents most at-risk of gun violence

• $4.1 million to expand Project Empowerment with new wrap-around services for residents most at-risk of gun violence and the creation of new Pathways Champions positions at the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement

• $2.2 million for temporary safe housing for residents involved in gun violence

• $2 million for expanded offerings from the Department of Parks and Recreation to communities hardest hit by gun violence

• $7.2 million for youth safety initiatives, including an expansion of Safe Passage, out-of-school time activities for youth, and enhanced training for school resource officers

Budget Investment Highlights

Click to review budget highlights of new investments and initiatives in Mayor Bowser’s FY22 budget proposal.

With a year of mostly virtual learning winding down, and fewer than a third of D.C.’s public school students in classrooms part of the week, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) made an ambitious assertion: School buildings are to open full time in the fall with all students attending in person. All teachers must report to their classrooms. And students will be required to return unless — and the mayor delivered a big caveat — they demonstrate a need to continue with virtual learning, she said at a news conference last month.

Her administration later announced that students would need to provide a doctor’s note giving a medical reason to remain home.

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