D.C. Could Get Half As Much Coronavirus Aid As States; Local Leaders Push Back

D.C. officials are crying foul over a provision of the Senate's $2 trillion recovery bill that gives each of the 50 states at least $1.25 billion in direct aid while providing D.C. with less than half that amount.

The provision circulated on Capitol Hill this afternoon would dedicate $3.3 billion total to D.C. and the five U.S. territories — Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands. City officials say that would amount to roughly $500 million in direct federal aid for D.C., which is more populous than two states and has more confirmed coronavirus cases than at least 19 states.

[Read the latest updates about coronavirus in our region here]

"D.C. is treated as the 51st in so many ways when it comes to federal funding, and this should be no different," said Mayor Muriel Bowser in an interview on Wednesday evening. "I can't even think of a way in a funding bill that the District is treated as one of the territories, so it's quite shocking. It is more the rule that we are treated as a state in about all senses when it comes to housing funds or education funds or any number of federal funding formulas."

The provision of the massive recovery bill working its way through the Senate was first noticed by D.C. Council staff, who notified the mayor's office. Bowser and D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (on behalf of the entire Council) sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) on Wednesday afternoon demanding that the city be treated the same as the 50 states for purposes of direct federal aid in the bill.

"The District has the densest population of any state or territory which puts us at higher risk of transmission of the virus," they wrote. "We also have to work in unison with Maryland and Virginia — each of which will get at least $1.25 billion under the legislation. It is also bad policy as well as unfair to pay our smallest states at least $2,000 per capita while funding District around $700 per capita."

D.C. is not a state, but city officials say it is governed and taxed in a way that is more akin to the 50 states than the five territories. (D.C. residents also regularly pay more in federal taxes per capita than residents of any state.) This latest issue over the spending bills taps into the deep vein of discontent among many D.C. officials and residents, who say they are often treated as an afterthought because the city lacks statehood.

D.C. has an elected mayor and legislature, but laws it passes can be overruled by Congress. And even during the current pandemic, the city's complex relationship with the federal government has emerged as a challenge. Unlike any of the 50 states, Bowser had to get federal approval to deploy the D.C. National Guard. And when crowds flocked to the Tidal Basin last weekend, largely ignoring the message of health officials to practice social distancing, Bowser had to urge federal officials to do something — before she opted to use D.C. police to restrict access to the area.

Speaking earlier on Wednesday, Bowser said she had to work her way into a governors' call with President Trump on the pandemic response. "We had to make sure we were represented," she said. And in an interview with WAMU, she again said that D.C. was left at a disadvantage because of its lack of voting representation in Congress, notably the Senate.

"We don't have Senators, and I think this exacerbates it because the need for the relief is so critical," she said.

Earlier this month, a House committee voted to advance a bill that would make D.C. the 51st state. Proponents say it is a necessary step to promote democracy and equality, while critics say it ignores the founders' desire that the nation's capital remain a separate entity, not attached to any one state.

Bowser says she and D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton remain "confident" that the bill can be changed to give D.C. more money. "I will be making calls and I will be doing everything we can to get it changed," she said.