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D.C. Mayor Opposes Charter Amendment For Budget Autonomy

By: Rebecca Blatt // December 4, 2012
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The D.C. Council is backing a charter amendment that would force Congress' hand on budget autonomy.
Adam Fagen (http://www.flickr.com/photos/afagen/5095526890/)
The D.C. Council is backing a charter amendment that would force Congress' hand on budget autonomy.

D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray says he opposes the D.C. Council's plan to gain budget autonomy through a charter amendment.

The proposal is essentially an end-run around Congress. The council wants D.C. voters to approve a charter amendment that would allow the District to spend its local tax dollars without Congressional approval and reset its fiscal year.

To stop the charter amendment, Congress would have to pass a disapproval resolution, and President Obama would have to sign it, which supporters say is unlikely.

Gray supports budget autonomy, but in a letter to the council, he says he's concerned a charter amendment would be illegal. He says he doesn't want to subject the district's budget process to a long and unpredictable court battle.

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