D.C. Mayor-elect Vincent C. Gray and council Chairman-elect Kwame Brown have reached the put-up-or-shut-up point. After weeks of talking about the need to make tough budget decisions, Tuesday they must act. That is when the legislature takes its first vote on Mayor Adrian M. Fenty’s $188 million gap-closing proposal for fiscal 2011. Last week, during a council public hearing, a steady stream of special interest groups and advocates, who haven’t seen a program cut they could endorse or a tax increase they could reject, argued against Fenty’s plan. The outgoing executive submitted a revised 2011 budget with expenditure reductions that, if approved, would touch nearly every government agency, including entitlements. Some council members have blasted the proposal for forcing the city’s most “vulnerable” to bear the brunt of the budget crisis.
That spare-the-poor-and-working-class-at-any-cost approach, irresponsible budget policies, and an inherited imbalance in the fiscal structure converged in the 1990s to bring the District to the brink of bankruptcy. Elected officials back then lacked the courage to right size the government.
Fortunately the mettle shortage was addressed when a congressionally created control board did what the mayor and council could not do: It dramatically reduced spending, slashing entitlement programs that had grown beyond the city’s ability to pay for them.
Once again, elected officials are being called to act bravely — and responsibly. Council Chairman Pro tempore Jack Evans has noted repeatedly the government has grown during the past 10 years at an unsustainable rate. There has been deficit spending and debt accumulation, creating substantial burdens for future generations of District residents.
It would be nice to maintain current levels of social services — but declining revenues have made that impossible. Some legislators have proposed jacking up the tax rate for wealthier residents. Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi has projected a 1 percent increase could yield massive amounts of money.
During the past year, the CFO has adjusted downward other rosy revenue projections. Hope springs eternal, I guess.
In 2007, Gray demonstrated courage: He orchestrated the legislature’s approval — despite substantial opposition — of mayoral control of public education. Once again, he must encourage his colleagues to consider the long-term interest of the city, pushing them to approve major spending cuts, rollback of some employee benefits, and elimination of select government offices.
Council members searching for political cover could blame an unmerciful recession that has brought even wealthy jurisdictions like Montgomery County to their knees. They could, like comedian Flip Wilson, point the finger at the “devil,” which is how some residents view Fenty. I offer these potential scapegoats for the use of the unrepentant wusses in the legislature; no need to call them out, they know who they are.
The council’s failure to act boldly and decisively ultimately could harm the very community they have claimed they seek to protect. If you don’t believe me, check out what happened in the 1990s.
Jonetta Rose Barras’ column appears on Monday and Wednesday. She can be reached at [email protected].
