May 26, 2022

Ward 3 Update: Second Budget Vote

Dear Neighbors,

On Tuesday, May 24th, the Council voted for the second (and final) time to
approve the Fiscal Year 2023 budget. Here are just a few of the key
programs and investments I'm most looking forward to seeing implemented:
* $41.6 million to increase the Uniform Per Student Funding Formula
(UPSFF) to support schools with high percentages of at-risk students.
* $24 million for excluded workers who are still struggling from the
pandemic; the Council also expanded the earned income tax credit to include
undocumented workers with a tax ID number.
* $11.6 million to support the access to justice initiative, which
provides civil legal service to low-income residents.
* 41 new DCRA (in FY 2023, the Department of Buildings) inspectors to
accelerate review of housing code violations, illegal construction, and
vacant property enforcement.
* Expanding the Shallow Subsidy for Unsubsidized Seniors rental
assistance program for low income seniors (which will serve around 125
seniors). This program provides up to $600 a month to seniors not receiving
any other supports and who make less than 60% AMI.

If you'd like to read about the investments my committee made on
transportation, the environment, and within Ward 3, please see my
[1]previous update here.

Regards,

Mary

Upcoming Events
* Wednesday, June 1st at 7pm: [2]ANC 3D
* Saturday, June 4th at 11am: [3]Glover Park Day
* Sunday, June 5th at 12pm: [4]Uptown Shuffle
* Tuesday, June 7th at 12pm: [5]Legislative Meeting
* Thursday, June 9th at 7pm: [6]ANC 3B
* Thursday, June 9th at 7:30pm: [7]ANC 3E
* Monday, June 13th at 7pm: [8]ANC 3/4G

Listen Tomorrow

Tomorrow, Friday, May 27th, at 12pm, I'll be joining the Politics Hour with
Kojo Nnamdi and Tom Sherwood. You can listen at 88.5 FM or online [9]here.

Russia Ban

I was honored to learn that I, along with certain members of Congress and
executive branch officials, have made Vladimir Putin’s [10]“enemy list” and
have been banned from entering Russia. No reason was given but I assume it
is for [11]naming a portion of Wisconsin Avenue across from the Russian
embassy after Boris Nemtsov. Boris Nemtsov was a democratic reformer and
critic of the Putin regime, and they killed him. And every time ordinary
Russians wanted to commemorate the spot on the bridge where he was gunned
down (flowers, pictures, etc.) the government would sweep everything away
daily. So I managed to name that portion of Wisconsin Ave across from the
Russian embassy “Boris Nemtsov Way.” That way, the Russians and others
would see it, and no one could sweep it away. Happily Russia is the last
place on earth I want to go.

Glover Park Day

After a three year hiatus due to the pandemic, I'm delighted that Glover
Park Day will be back next Saturday, June 4th, from 11am-5pm at Guy Mason
Recreation Center (3600 Calvert St NW). I'm looking forward to attending,
and I hope to see many of you there. For more details, [12]click here.

Election on June 21st

As I'm sure many of you know, DC's primary election will take place on
Tuesday, June 21st. If you are an active registered voter, you will be
mailed a ballot ahead of the election, and you may have already received
it. To check your voter registration status, view a simple ballot, find
your options for voting, and more, visit the [13]Board of Elections
website.

Uptown Shuffle in Cleveland Park

For more details on this event, [14]click here.

In the News

WTOP: [15]DC Council members call for probe after health dept. didn’t
report COVID data

"In a letter signed by Nadeau, Trayon White, Mary Cheh, Robert White, Lewis
George and Charles Allen, they said they are concerned that once-available
coronavirus data wasn’t transmitted to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention."

DCist: [16]Developer Seeks Exemption To Heritage Tree Protections, Citing
D.C.’s Housing Crunch

"City Interests hired a lobbyist to plead its case before the D.C. Council,
spending $9,000 since the beginning of the year. The lobbyist emailed and
met with with staff from the office of Councilmember Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3),
who chairs the transportation and environment committee and who originally
introduced the heritage tree legislation, and with staff from Councilmember
Vincent Gray’s office (D-Ward 7), who represents the area where the
development is located.

Cheh was not interested.

“I was not inclined to consider an exemption,” Cheh tells DCist/WAMU. “I
know the exemption business: Once you have one, then you have two.”

Councilmember Gray, on the other hand, lent a sympathetic ear,
and [17]introduced a bill to exempt Parkside from the heritage tree law.
Gray was not available for an interview with DCist/WAMU and did not provide
comment on the bill, despite multiple requests.

Cheh says she supports the development, but does not want to start a
precedent of allowing exemptions for particular properties, which she says
would undermine the law. And, she says, since the bill is in her committee,
it won’t be going anywhere.

“I have no intention of moving this bill,” Cheh says. “I think it’s bad
business, and I’m sorry that after they got the reception that they got
from my office, that they figured they would shop it around to somebody
else, because I’m still not interested.”

Rather than paying a lobbyist to try to get a loophole written in to the
law, Cheh says City Interests should instead pay to have the trees
relocated, as some [18]other developers have done, in order to comply with
the heritage tree law.

“They would be the beneficiaries of these magnificent trees, their
magnificent canopies, and they should just pencil it in as part of the cost
of their development,” Cheh says...

D.C. lawmakers, led by Cheh, recently have been working to [19]tighten
protections for heritage trees, after several cases where developers
illegally cut down trees [20]while city officials looked on, powerless to
stop them. Under emergency legislation, the city can now issue stop work
orders to prevent illegal tree removal, rather than just retroactively
issue a fine."

Bloomberg: [21]A City Fights Back Against Heavyweight Cars

“You can’t ban sales of these things,” says Mary Cheh, a D.C. councilmember
who developed the new fee structure, “but you can make them pay their own
way.”...

But Councilmember Cheh believes that that carmakers’ addiction to adding
weight and height demands a regulatory rethink. “The size and weight of
these vehicles has become ginormous,” she said. “When cars and pedestrians
or cyclists come into contact, we know that the heavier the car, the worse
the accident will be.”

During this year’s budget process, Cheh [22]proposed overhauling the
city’s vehicle regulation framework. Annual fees for machines under 3,500
pounds would remain at $72/year, while those from 3,500 to 5,000 pounds
would now cost $175. The fee for registering a car between 5,000 and 6,000
pounds would rise to $250. The biggest hit is aimed at a new category
created for SUVs and trucks weighing over 6,000 pounds: Their owners would
now have to shell out $500 per year.

In other words, a D.C. resident registering a heavy-duty pickup or SUV who
would have paid $775 over five years in the old fee structure will now have
to fork over $2,500. Notably, no exception is available for residents
claiming that they need a heavy-duty truck or SUV for their work. (Cheh
says the issue hasn’t come up.)

Cheh sees the hiked fees as “a kind of proportionality” for the damage
caused by the heaviest vehicles, but she doesn’t expect them to be the
decisive factor for all car buyers. “The bigger thing is going to be the
cost of gas,” she said.

Unless, of course, the car buyer opts for an electric vehicle that needs no
gas at all. Numerous EVs, including the [23]9,000-pound GMC Hummer EV,
already crack the three-ton mark. Cheh has proposed that electric vehicles,
whose batteries often add weight compared to an equivalent gas-powered
model, be subject to the same sliding scale of registration fees — but with
a 1,000-pound credit intended avoid standing in the way of electrification.

D.C.’s budget analysts have projected that the new fee structure would
contribute around $40 million to the city’s general fund over the next five
years. Cheh calls that estimated revenue an “added benefit,” and she hopes
to see the money allocated toward enhanced street safety efforts."

To read the full article, click on the headline

Our Office is Open!

Connect with our staff - While Councilmember Cheh's physical office is
closed during the public health emergency, she and her staff are
teleworking and will remain accessible for residents.

You may continue to reach us via [24]email or phone through our main line
at (202) 724-8062 with legislative ideas, budget requests, and constituent
services requests.

[25]Facebook [26]Twitter [27]marycheh.com

FOLLOW MARY

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Mary Cheh
Mary Cheh Ward 3
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue NWSuite 108
Washington, DC 20004
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