Hello!

We’ve been in coronavirus public health emergency mode for a little over 2 months now, so I
know we are all getting a bit antsy to get on the other side of this, but as we enter into a long
holiday weekend, please remember that the Stay-At-Home Order is still in effect.

Keep reading for the latest updates on what Council has been up to, as well as some community
updates.

The ReOpen DC Committee has presented recommendations on how we will safely emerge
from the current public health emergency. You can read the full report here. The
recommendations include reopening DC in three phases. We expect Mayor Bowser to announce
an official date for Phase I of reopening next Tuesday, May 26th.

Legislative Updates
Council’s Legislative Meeting
On May 19th, the Council passed the latest emergency bill in response to COVID-19. The bill
pretty much consolidated the last several bills that the Council passed.

However, one new provision was an additional expansion of the District's Standby Guardianship
law, which allows custodial parents to designate and authorize a person other than a parent to
take care of, or make decisions for a child if the parent becomes incapable of doing so for up to
90 days. I previously introduced legislation to expand the law to include parents or
guardians subject to an adverse immigration action. In response to our first modern-day
pandemic, I felt it was necessary for families to have the same option in the case of a parent
becoming ill with COVID-19.

Also, Councilmember Charles Allen and I moved an oral amendment to ensure all tenants,
including those who live in buildings with 5 or fewer units, would be able to take advantage of
the tenant payment plan passed by Council. Previously, smaller buildings were exempt from this
requirement.
Budget
On May 19th, Mayor Bowser presented her proposed budget to the DC Council. Over the next
two months, the Council will conduct budget oversight hearings with the agencies under each
committee’s jurisdiction.

I will be chairing the Committee on Human Services hearing today, May 22nd, for public
witnesses, and on May 26th for government witnesses. If you haven’t submitted testimony yet,
don’t worry, the hearing’s official record is still open until May 29th for written and voicemail
testimony.
1. Written Testimony: email testimony to humanservices@dccouncil.us.
2. Voicemail Testimony: call 202-350-1927, state and spell your name, state name of the
organization represented and title, the agency you are testifying about, and begin
testimony.

Community Updates

Public Spaces
On May 15th, Councilmembers Mary Cheh, Charles Allen, and I sent a letter and proposal to
Mayor Bowser urging immediate action to create public spaces that are safer for people during
the public health emergency. Thank you to commissioners from ANCs 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1D for
your help with this proposal! Here’s the full letter.

Yesterday’s release of the ReOpen DC report from the Advisory Group did include a suggestion
for repurposing streets and public space to respond to the crisis. However, it was vague. I created
an example of what Ward 1 might look like if we do this on the scale other cities are acting right
now. Click here to check it out. This map is speculative fiction, not a detailed proposal, but it
illustrates the scale we need to be thinking on. Cities will either recover or scrape by depending
on how well we accommodate our new reality.

Resources
Groceries

Grocery distribution sites are open from 12:30pm-2:00pm.

• Mondays: Brookland Middle School (Ward 5), Eastern Senior High School (Ward 6)
• Tuesdays: Kelly Miller Middle School (Ward 7), Stanton Elementary School (Ward 8)
• Wednesdays: Coolidge/Wells (Ward 4), Woodson High School (Ward 7)
• Thursdays: Anacostia High School (Ward 8), Kimball Elementary School (Ward 7)
• Fridays: Ballou High School (Ward 8), Columbia Heights Educational Campus (Ward 1)
SNAP Online Purchasing
The Supplemental Assistance Nutritional Program (SNAP) provides financial assistance for food
purchases. To apply, visit dcbenefits.dhs.dc.gov. SNAP recipients can now use their benefits on
Amazon at amazon.com/snap-ebt to purchase groceries online.

Pandemic E-BET
Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) provides food benefits on an Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card to
District families with children who normally receive free or reduced-price school meals. If the
family current receives SNAP or TANF, P-EBT benefits will be automatically loaded onto the
family’s existing EBT card. Families not on SNAP or TANF will automatically receive an EBT
card in the mail. More information is available here.

Reminders

The Ward 1 Council staff continues to operate via telework, and we are available by phone and
email. If you need any assistance getting connected to resources or have any concerns, please
reach out. You can find our contact information here.

Vote By Mail
The Board of Elections (Board) is urging voters to vote-by-mail for the Primary Election on June
2nd. You will need to request a ballot. The deadline to request a ballot is May 26th.
Ways to request a mail-in ballot:
1. Download the Vote4DC App
2. Call (202) 741-5283 to have your mail-in ballot request mailed to you
3. Download the mail-in ballot form and email the completed form to dcabsentee@dcboe.org
4. Download the main-in ballot form and fax the completed form to (202) 347-2648
5. Download the mail-in ballot form, print, and send the completed form to: DC Board of
Elections 1015 Half Street, SE, Suite 750, Washington, DC 20003

Census
DC is currently lagging in Census responses, only about 56% of residents have responded! If
you haven’t already, take 10 minutes to respond to the census. The census count determines
where billions of dollars in federal funding go to – schools, infrastructure, hospitals. You can
respond to the census by phone, online, or mail. More information is available at 2020 Census.