Latest News

The Committee on Labor and Workforce Development will hold a performance oversight hearing on Monday, February 12, at 10:00am in Room 123 of the John A. Wilson Building (1350 Pennsylvania Ave. NW) on the Office of Risk Management, Office of Employee Appeals, and Public Employee Relations Board.

A draft agenda and witness list is attached here.

Dear Resident,

As we jump into Black History Month, I’m thrilled to extend an invitation to the second Celebration of Black History in the District happening next Thursday, February 15, from 2:00-3:00pm at the John A. Wilson Building (1350 Pennsylvania Ave. NW)! This year’s program will be emceed by WUSA9’s Bruce Johnson with keynote remarks by Chris Myers Asch and George Derek Musgrove, authors of Chocolate City: A History of Race and Democracy in the Nation’s Capital. We’ll also be joined by choirs from the Washington School for Girls and Wilson High School.

If you’re able to make it, then you will also get to meet the newest member of my staff. I’m excited to welcome Velonte Chambers as anintern in my office this semester. Velonte is a current DC Public Schools high school senior who is passionate about community outreach, equitable development, andyouth civic engagement. You may have heard about him on WAMU after his winning speech at the Mikva Challenge Project Soapbox competition last December. I was a judge at that competition and was immediately impressed by his charisma, confidence, and authenticity.

The Labor Committee held a public roundtable on Thursday, February 9, 2018 at 1:00pm in Room 123 of the John A. Wilson Building (1350 Pennsylvania Ave. NW) on the following resolutions:

• PR 22-738, “Compensation Collective Bargaining Agreement between the District of Columbia Government and Compensation Units 1 and 2, FY 2018 - FY 2021, Approval Resolution of 2018” and
• PR 22-739, “Changes to District Government Employee Pay Schedules Approval Resolution of 2018”

A draft agenda and witness list are attached here.

The Committee on Labor & Workforce Development held a Committee mark-up on Wednesday, February 07, 2018 in Room 123 of the John A. Wilson Building (1350 Pennsylvania Ave. NW) on the following legislation: 

• B22-419, the “Subrogation Fund Establishment Act of 2018”
• B22-420, the “Captive Insurance Agency Amendment Act of 2018”

The agenda and draft Committee reports are attached below.

D.C. Councilmember Elissa Silverman (I-At Large) today introduced two bills to strengthen homeowner protections and help developers renovate blighted properties faster and more cost-efficiently.

“I've heard horror stories from District homeowners about cracked foundations, flooded basements, and years of battling contractors who refuse to take responsibility for careless work,” said Silverman. “Homeowners must have reliable protections against property damage, and we can better reward good developers who do quality work.”

The Department of Employment Services (DOES) released the first quarterly report on implementation of the District's paid family leave program, pursuant to reporting requirements in Law 21-264, the Universal Paid Leave Amendment Act of 2016. The Office of Paid Family Leave will be housed within DOES and oversee planning, developing, and administering the program. 

You can read the first progress report here.

The Committee on Labor and Workforce will hold an oversight roundtable on implementation of the paid leave law on Thursday, January 30, 2018. The hearing will begin at 10:00am in Room 500 of the John A. Wilson Building (1350 Pennsylvania Ave. NW). A draft agenda and witness list is attached here.

D.C. Councilmember Elissa Silverman (I-At Large) today released the following statement after co-introducing a bill with Chairman Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) to divide responsibilities of the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) into two newly created agencies:

“The District’s Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs needs a significant overhaul. It is vital to protecting the health and welfare of our residents, as well as our businesses and our economy. That’s why I am an enthusiastic co-introducer of Chairman Mendelson’s bill today, the Department of Buildings Establishment Act of 2018, to break up DCRA into two agencies.

Take just these last four days: D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services (FEMS) crews have been called to fight fires that were caused by contractors either unlicensed or without proper permits. The violations were so obvious that FEMS could identify the problem almost immediately. These fires are further examples of the ways that DCRA puts our residents and businesses at risk.

*Download a two-page explainer of this bill here.

The legislation comes in response to the recently passed federal tax reform bill limiting District income and property tax deductions for residents at $10,000.

Today, D.C. Councilmember Elissa Silverman (I-At Large) introduced legislation creating a new local income tax credit for donations to the District in support of public education. The District of Columbia Education Charitable Donations Act of 2018 would support District public schools and potentially help more than 100,000 income tax filers in the District avoid a new penalty from the Republican tax bill just signed into law.

”District residents will benefit from having an additional charitable deduction on their federal returns, and the District will benefit from the charitable donation to our schools,” Silverman said. “It’s a win-win for the District and smart progressive tax policy.”

*Download a two-page explainer of this bill here.

Today, along with Ward 7 Councilmember Vincent Gray, Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen, Ward 1 Councilmember Brianne Nadeau, and my at-large colleagues David Grosso, Robert White, and Anita Bonds, I am introducing the District of Columbia Education Charitable Donations Amendment Act of 2018.  The bill does two simple things, but it will have a big, positive economic impact on our residents and our city.

First, it creates a new fund for residents to donate to support our public schools. Second, it creates a new tax credit to incentivize donations to this fund. These two steps will both support public education in the District and potentially help more than a hundred thousand income tax filers in the District avoid a new penalty from the Republican tax bill just signed into law.