Good morning, Chairman Mendelson and committee staff. My name is Joanna Blotner, and I serve as the Government Affairs Director at DC Action where we utilize research, data, coalition building, advocacy, and a racial equity lens to break down barriers that stand in the way of all kids reaching their full potential. We are also the home of DC KIDS COUNT, an online resource that tracks key indicators of child, youth, and family well-being. I am testifying today on the budget for the Council of the District of Columbia and the need for its budget to promote greater public accessibility as well as greater equity with the District’s executive agencies.
Members and clients of DC Action’s many coalitions and of our partner organizations often face language barriers to participating in Council hearings, meetings, and community events. The Council’s process for requesting translation or interpretation can be onerous and inconsistent; for example, barriers include requesting interpretation at least 5 business days in advance, hearing notices and sign up pages not being translated, some hearing sign up forms prompt you to request translation while others require you to know to email the committee directly, and committees do not always confirm if/when translation will be available. And for hearings where translation or interpretation is able to be provided, that service is often only provided for the short portion of a witness’s panel. This leaves the remainder of the hearing – both public and government witness portions – inaccessible to that witness and to the larger public of residents requiring Spanish, Amharic, ASL, or other language access accommodations to civically engage. At a time when immigrant communities are under attack federally and by our own local leaders, it is imperative for the Council to hear from and engage with directly impacted residents.
Too often community members and advocates are told it is a matter of “budget constraints” that prevent hearings or meetings from being fully (i.e. translation available through whole hearing/meeting) or proactively (i.e. interpretation arranged without a special request being submitted by the public) accessible for multilingual audiences. Budget constraints should not be an impediment to engaging in the District’s democratic processes. The Council secretary’s budget appears to allocate roughly $1.6 million for various contractual services for FY26, of which translation and interpretation are presumably one of the anticipated costs for this budget line. We urge the Committee to thoroughly analyze this budget line to ensure the amount designated for translation and interpretation is sufficient to enable improvements to the Council’s accessibility of budget and oversight hearings, legislative hearings, COW and legislative meetings, hearing notices and sign up forms, and councilmember community engagements (office hours, ward work days, townhall listening sessions) – translation for member community events should be funded centrally rather than each office having to pull from their already too limited personal office budget. Finally, the Council should budget for one or more sets of translation devices so residents can attend hearings and meetings and listen along with simultaneous translation provided.
In addition to language access, the Council should also budget for overtime for hearings to start and run later in the day to better accommodate student and youth voices, educators, and working parents, particularly parents in low wage jobs who have less flexibility to take time off for daytime hearings. We also believe it would also be beneficial to the public for select hearings and roundtables to happen outside the Wilson Building and physically in the community which may require funding for space rental and setup.
A final note on accessibility of the legislative process and body – DC Action has significant concerns about the increased presence of armed security officers, including police officers, in the Wilson Building who have become increasingly hostile to residents exercising their democratic rights – residents simply trying to talk to elected officials and Council staff or testify, not even trying to protest or engage in disruptive actions. to lobby their elected officials. On numerous occasions officers have stalked and intimidated groups of service providers, their clients, and youth that DC Action has brought to the Wilson building; they have behaved similarly with other groups of residents and advocates organized by partners of ours. In my observation, this happens only when a majority Black and brown group comes to the Wilson building – is intimidating residents civically engaging really the best use of taxpayer dollars??
A better use of taxpayer dollars would be to increase the legislative staff, rather than security, capacity of the Council. Council staff – and members – have far too much on their plates and are significantly undercompensated compared to executive agency staff in comparable roles. The Mayor’s office is netting 44 new staffers – largely for community affairs roles – while Council staffing levels and pay remain nearly stagnant. This is a disservice to the public who need more Council staff to be subject matter experts (akin to executive agency policy staffers), more deeply engaged in year-round oversight, and more focused on legislative solutions to systemic poverty, racism, and inequality. A stronger, more well-resourced Council body is good for the District and local democracy.
Thank you for your consideration and I would be happy to answer any questions.