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The mayor's threat to have the unelected Chief Financial Officer overrule the council's budget because of tiny cuts to MPD's reveal a lot about how the District government works.
Even if you ignore our lack of federal representation, DC isn't really a democracy. https://twitter.com/FenitN/status/1285222355007082497
Even if you ignore our lack of federal representation, DC isn't really a democracy. https://twitter.com/FenitN/status/1285222355007082497
US states have constitutions written by representatives of their residents. DC has a home rule charter written by Congress. The charter requires us to run a balanced budget.
But who decides whether the budget is balanced or not? The CFO, a mayoral appointee with massive power
But who decides whether the budget is balanced or not? The CFO, a mayoral appointee with massive power
Scoring the budget is more complicated than you might think, and requires a lot of guesswork about the consequences of policy choices.
In this case, Bowser is saying that the CFO could decide that cutting MPD's budget will actually INCREASE MPD's budget
In this case, Bowser is saying that the CFO could decide that cutting MPD's budget will actually INCREASE MPD's budget
And it's not just the budget. The CFO gets to score ALL legislation the Council passes to decide if there's a budgetary impact.
In the past, the CFO has threatened to say that business regulations like a higher minimum wage or stronger rent control will cost DC money.
In the past, the CFO has threatened to say that business regulations like a higher minimum wage or stronger rent control will cost DC money.
The argument is that more regulation leads to less economic activity which leads to less tax revenue. And if the CFO decides some regulation will cost the District money, they can force the council to pay for it by raising taxes or cutting spending somewhere else.
Now, we would argue that legislation that reduces poverty usually SAVES the District government money over the long term. But shockingly, the CFO never uses that kind of math.
So the CFO has basically unlimited power over local policy: they can reject the budget and veto bills by slapping them with a huge price tag.
If the mayor vetoes a bill, a supermajority of the council can overrule the veto. But the council can't do anything about the CFO.
If the mayor vetoes a bill, a supermajority of the council can overrule the veto. But the council can't do anything about the CFO.
So you might be asking why the hell things work this way. The CFO is a charming legacy of the federal control board, the imperial proconsuls that congress put in charge of DC in the 90s. Very similar to the junta that governs Puerto Rico under PROMESA https://cfo.dc.gov/page/history-ocfo
