The Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Support Act of 2026 is the District of Columbia’s annual budget support legislation, and it makes the statutory changes needed to implement the Mayor’s proposed FY 2027 budget and financial plan. The bill spans government operations, economic development, public safety, education, human services, infrastructure, and tax policy. It includes both policy changes and revenue measures, along with numerous special funds, tax abatements, fee adjustments, and program authorizations designed to support the District’s spending plan.
A major theme of the bill is economic development and land-use incentives. It expands or creates tax abatements for downtown building conversions, workforce housing, former federal properties, and WMATA joint development sites; establishes a Federal Properties Tax Fund; revises supermarket tax incentives; authorizes new grantmaking and acquisition authority for economic development; and creates or modifies tax increment financing districts for Northeast Heights, Bryant Street Phase 2, and the Frank D. Reeves Municipal Center. The bill also changes fees and business-related charges, including corporate filing fees, certificate of occupancy fees, vacant building registration fees, and a public inconvenience fee for public space occupancy.
The bill also makes significant changes to public services and labor-related rules. It centralizes telework policy authority in the Mayor, limits the District’s liability for unliquidated damages, revises paid parental, family, and medical leave for District employees, changes lobbyist late-filing penalties, and sets rules for mayoral transition spending. In public safety, it expands cadet recruitment, adjusts criminal background check authority, changes senior police officer eligibility, dissolves the Homeland Security Commission, and modifies the Safe Passage program. In education, it increases the Uniform Per Student Funding Formula, creates a separate funding stream for Advanced Technical Centers, adjusts charter school facility allowances, expands educator pay equity funding, and authorizes broader data sharing for education and workforce programs.
The bill’s fiscal impact is broad but generally structured to fit within the approved financial plan. According to the Chief Financial Officer’s fiscal impact statement, funds are sufficient for FY 2027 through FY 2030. Some provisions generate savings, such as the telework, liability, paid leave, and food policy changes, while others reduce revenue through abatements or tax changes, including workforce housing, supermarket incentives, and certain fee reductions. Other provisions raise revenue or redirect existing revenue streams, such as the sales tax delay, hotel and rental car tax changes, medical cannabis tax increase, and special fund transfers.
Overall sentiment appears broadly supportive of the Mayor’s pro-growth budget framework, with the bill emphasizing economic development, housing production, infrastructure investment, and targeted service expansions. At the same time, several provisions are likely to be contentious because they reduce employee benefits, tighten liability exposure, shift funds away from existing accounts, or provide tax relief and exemptions to specific projects and sectors. The most notable points of contention are likely to include the reduction in District employee family leave, the cap on District liability, the elimination of the vacant building registration fee, the repeal of the Food Policy Council, the delay in the sales tax increase, and the use of tax abatements and special funds to support selected development projects and private entities.
The bill amends a wide range of District statutes and regulations, including the personnel code, tax code, housing laws, education funding formulas, public safety statutes, environmental fund provisions, and multiple special fund and fee schedules. It creates new tax abatements, special funds, and TIF districts; revises existing tax rates and deductions; changes eligibility and reporting rules for housing, schools, and public assistance programs; and authorizes new administrative powers for the Mayor and executive agencies. It also repeals or narrows several existing programs and fees, while redirecting revenues into dedicated funds for specific purposes.
The general sentiment reflected in the bill materials is favorable toward the Mayor’s FY 2027 budget priorities, especially growth-oriented development, school funding, public safety staffing, and infrastructure modernization. The CFO’s fiscal impact statement indicates the bill is financially manageable within the adopted plan, which suggests institutional support for the package. However, the bill also contains several cost-saving or restrictive measures that are likely to draw criticism from employees, advocates, and affected industries, particularly where benefits are reduced or public funds are redirected.
Likely points of contention include the reduction in District employee paid family leave, the new liability cap on claims against the District, and the repeal or weakening of programs such as the Food Policy Council and vacant building fee structure. Labor and employee advocates may object to the leave restrictions and continuation-of-service requirements, while housing and development stakeholders may debate the balance between tax abatements, affordability requirements, and exemptions from First Source obligations. Consumer and public-interest groups may also scrutinize the hotel fee, sales tax delay, medical cannabis tax increase, and the expanded use of special funds and targeted tax incentives for private development projects.