The $6.8 billion D.C. budget for fiscal 1999 passed by Congress Oct. 20 includes $225 million in new federal funds to be used for the following projects:

•$68.8 million in additional funds for road and transportation improvements;

•$30 million for special education costs in public schools, such as transportation and medication;

•$25 million to create the National Capital Revitalization Corp., a city-wide economic development corporation, after the control board presents a plan to Congress;

•$25 million to build a Metro stop at the new convention center;

•$25 million for management reform projects of the financial control board;

•$20 million for Year 2000 compliance;

•$15.6 million for public charter schools;

•$7.1 million for Boys Town USA;

•$7 million for environmental clean-up at the Lorton Correctional Complex;

•$3.24 million for a firefighter pay raise;

•$3 million for improvements at the Southwest Washington waterfront;

•$3 million to the control board for continued funding of a Medicare demonstration project;

•$2 million for a city museum;

•$1.2 million to establish a Citizen Police Review Board;

•$1 million in matching funds for Georgetown Waterfront Park;

•$1 million for Children’s National Medical Center for construction. renovation and information technology infrastructure costs for health clinics for high-risk children;

•$300,000 for an interactive downtown task force;

•$300,000 for a music museum;

•$200,000 for a mentoring program for at-risk youth;

•$100,000 for Save New York Avenue Inc.;

•$50,000 for a youth hotline.

Federal money also will be used to fund D.C. agencies taken over by the federal government last year in exchange for ending the annual federal payment to the District. These include:

•$184.8 million for the Office of the Corrections Trustee overseeing the transfer of authority over D.C. prisons from the city to the Federal Bureau of Prisons;

•$128 million for D.C. Court of Appeals and D.C. Superior Court;

•$59.4 million for the Office of the Offender Supervision Trustee, which oversees pre-trial services and probation.

Several provisions attached to the original House and/or Senate versions of the budget bill were removed in the final version. The following provisions were removed from the final bill:

•A prohibition on adoption of children by unmarried couples;

•Criminal penalties for minors possessing tobacco;

•Residency requirement for new city employees;

•The institution of a school voucher program;

•A ban on creating a citywide economic development corporation;

•A provision eliminating funds for the city’s 37 Advisory Neighborhoods Commissions.

Provisions included in the final budget bill include:

•A ban on using city funds for needle exchange programs;

•A ban on use of city or federal funds for a medical marijuana ballot initiative;

•A cap on attorney’s fees for special education litigation at $50/hour or total of $1,300 per case;

•A ban on using city funds for the voting rights lawsuit filed by the D.C. corporation counsel on behalf of city residents seeking full voting representation in Congress;

•Use of $8.5 million in federal funds earmarked for the District to purchase and maintain a helicopter for the U.S. Park Police.

Funds for the city’s 37 ANCs ($573,000) are to be restored after D.C. City Council passes legislation creating stricter oversight of the commissions.

In addition, the Trea-sury/Postal Appropriations Bill includes $4 million to pay lawyers at D.C. Superior Court who have represented poor defendants without pay since the court ran out of money several months ago.

Copyright 1998, The Common Denominator