Mayor Gray Hails Poll Showing National Support for DC Budget Autonomy

(WASHINGTON, DC) – Mayor Vincent C. Gray today applauded a new poll, released by D.C. Vote on the 150th anniversary of DC Emancipation Day and just ahead of the group’s annual Capitol Hill advocacy day, showing strong national support for DC budget autonomy.

“This poll confirms what we have long known to be true: that the vast majority of Americans are fair-minded people who believe the residents of the District of Columbia should enjoy the same rights they do,” said Mayor Gray. “Treating us like a federal agency is insulting to the hard-working Americans who call the District home, and giving us the ability to pass and expend our own budget without asking for a congressional permission slip is an important step on the road to full democracy for our 618,000 residents.”

The poll, commissioned by DC Vote and conducted by the firm Purple Insights, found that 71 percent of respondents believed decisions about the District’s budget should be made by local taxpayers and their elected officials while only 26 percent believed Congress should control the District’s budget. In a separate question, 78 percent of respondents said Congress should not make approval of the District’s budget contingent on unrelated matters, like guns or abortion rights.

“Americans understand that forcing a local government into the federal budget process is unfair,” said Mayor Gray. “When the federal government shuts down, so does the District, because we are unfairly tied to federal appropriations even when we are spending our own locally raised tax money. This is wrong, and it must end. I urge Congress to act quickly by passing budget-autonomy legislation for the District.”

Mayor Gray joined DC Vote leaders and supporters for a day of advocacy on Capitol Hill this morning, offering remarks at the day’s kick-off event at the United Methodist Building.