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Dear Resident,

We have two big civic-oriented holidays coming up: Scherzday/Strasmas and Halloween!

First, Scherzday/Strasmas! Many of you know I grew up in a baseball-rooting family, so I can’t hide my excitement that our Washington Nationals are in the World Series! This has been an exciting couple years in D.C. sports with a Stanley Cup championship, a Women’s NBA championship, and now a World Series bid. Let’s #StayInTheFight and cheer on our Nats.

Many of you also know I apprentice as a balloon maker, and I’m trying to learn how to make Baby Shark balloons. I’ll be rocking the red and twisting balloons at one of my favorite kids’ costume celebrations in the District this Friday at Hilloween in Eastern Market! I’ve ordered a hefty batch of candy for the festivities. For those with little ones, I hope you will dust off your favorite Halloween wig and stop by! The Department of Parks and Recreation is also back with a full schedule of Halloween activities happening this week in every ward for both kids and adults. Our Metropolitan Police Department will be hosting citywide Halloween events this Friday too. Take a look at where to stock up on candy, do some pumpkin carving, visit a haunted house, and even join a Halloween game night.

Now onto legislative updates!

The Committee on Labor and Workforce Development will convene a public oversight roundtable on the Implementation of the “Universal Paid Leave Amendment Act of 2016” on Wednesday, October 16, at 10:00am in Room 500 of the John A. Wilson Building (1350 Pennsylvania Ave. NW).

The draft agenda, witness list, and written testimony received to date are available below:

• 2019-Oct_16_RT_Paid_Leave_Witness_List__draft.docx
• PFL_Coalition_UPLA_Implementation_Oversight_Roundtable_Testimony_Oct_16_2019_.pdf
• FY19_Q4_PFL_Roundtable_DOES_Testimony_FINAL.pdf

Dear Resident,

Happy Fiscal New Year!

October 1 marked the beginning of a new fiscal year (FY 2020) for District government. That means the budget we worked so hard on last spring is implemented, and we're now starting new investments in resources for District residents and workers! I want to highlight a few items that residents and workers can look forward to in FY 2020:

• New wage garnishment protections and procedural safeguards for low-wage earners through my Wage Garnishment Fairness Amendment Act
• An apprenticeship initiative within D.C. government for District residents and students with the launch of my Pathways to Government Careers Act 
• An expanded Career Pathways Innovation Fund grant program that combines literacy and occupational training for the District’s adult jobseekers
• A new work-based learning coordinator position within D.C. Public Schools and enhanced career and technical education programs in District public charter schools
• Additional support for community-based organizations to help workers understand their rights under District employment law through a Wage and Hour Education Grants Program
• A boost in education efforts around tipped wage workers’ rights and workplace protections by increasing workplace posters, informational websites, and public education campaigns

D.C. Councilmember Elissa Silverman (I-At Large) today introduced legislation that would ban the use of non-compete agreements in entry-level and moderate-income employment. These agreements, which are often a condition of employment, unfairly limit a worker’s ability to earn better pay and benefits by restricting employees from taking an additional job or future job with another business in the same industry. The bill would apply to D.C. workers who earn up to three times the minimum wage.

“We need to remove every barrier keeping District workers from earning what they deserve and from taking advantage of better pay and working conditions,” Silverman said. “These non-compete agreements are particularly unfair for low-wage workers and contribute to income inequality in our city.”

The DC Council is reviewing the performance of the DC Infrastructure Academy, Local Adult Training program, Project Empowerment, and DC Career Connections to understand past program activities and to help inform its analysis for future budget decisions. In the Fiscal Year 2020 (FY20) budget, the Council partly funded these programs on a one-year basis, placing most of the remaining funds for the three successive budget years in reserve. The Committee on Labor and Workforce Development will review the programs’ budgets as part of the Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21) budget process. 

Below is the data requested from the Department of Employment Services (DOES) by the Committee to determine the programs’ outcomes in preparation for the FY21 budget process.

• Formal request for data - 07/19/19
• DOES response to performance data request

The Committee on Labor and Workforce Development Committee will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, September 25, at 11:00am in Room 500 of the John A. Wilson Building (1350 Pennsylvania Ave. NW) on the following measures:

• B23-0266: “Prohibition of Marijuana Testing Act of 2019”
• B23-0309: “Medical Marijuana Program Patient Employment Protection Amendment Act of 2019”

A draft agenda and witness list are available below, along with testimony from D.C. Department of Human Resources Director Ventris Gibson.

• Agenda_and_witness_list_9-25-19_Hearing_updated_DRAFT.docx
• TESTIMONY_-_Medical_Marijuana_Hearing_-_FY2019_Final_for_Council_v2_4_.pdf

Dear Resident,

It’s officially the first week of fall, and the D.C. Council is back in full swing! 

Post-recess has been action-packed so far: Last Thursday, I joined my colleagues at a historic hearing on D.C. Statehood before Congress. Thank you to everyone who showed up at the Rayburn House Office Building, called members of the House and Senate to support the statehood bill, wrote an email, sent a tweet, told a friend, or simply wore a statehood button. The hearing was a step forward in highlighting this voting rights and civil rights injustice. I hope you will continue to lend your voice to the call for District statehood and stay engaged on ways to advocate. We need each of you to make D.C. the 51st state!

A copy of the letter from members of the Council of the District of Columbia with comments on Proposed Rules Adding a New Chapter 35, “Paid Leave Benefits” to Title 7 of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations may be downloaded here. It was originally sent on September 6, 2019 to D.C. Department of Employment Services Director Unique Morris-Hughes. 

A copy of this letter may be downloaded here. It was originally sent on August 30, 2019 to D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation Director Delano Hunter and D.C. Department of General Services Director Keith Anderson.