An Affiliate of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities 820 First Street NE, Suite 460 Washington, DC 20002

(202) 408-1080 Fax (202) 408-8173 www.dcfpi.org

May 7, 2012 The Honorable Kwame Brown Chairman, Council of the District of Columbia 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20004 Dear Chairman Brown, As the DC Council enters its final days of examination and debate concerning Mayor Grays fiscal year 2013 budget, we kindly request the Council make all deliberations open and accessible to the public, and that you release the final budget proposal that will be considered by the full DC Council at least 24 hours before the May 15 vote. These two actions would allow DC residents the information and time needed to review and understand the proposed budget. As you know, the budget passed by the DC Council impacts every District resident. The Council typically makes changes to the Mayors proposed budget, and many of the most important decisions are made after the final public hearings on the budget. Some of these decisions are informed by meetings that occur off the dais. In the spirit of our open meetings act, we hope these meetings will be accessible to the public and televised so those who cannot come to the Wilson Building can watch and be informed. Recently, meetings have been held off the dais, and though they have been open to the public, there have only been one or two seats made available for the public and the meetings have not been recorded for public viewing. We hope the meeting scheduled for Wednesday at 1 p.m. will be both open and televised. Last year, you made great efforts to release the budget before the final vote. Once again this year, we request that residents have time to understand and respond to important issues on how limited resources will be used to meet a diverse set of needs in the District by having a 24-hour reading period before the vote. Because the Council votes just one time on the Budget Request Act the main legislation dictating how funds will be spent the reality is that almost nothing can be changed to the budget after the vote on May 15th. We also ask that all fiscal year 2013 budget documents that will be reviewed and/or acted on by the full Council be made available to the public at least 24 hours prior to the start of the May 15th legislative meeting on the budget. This includes, but is not limited to, the Committee of the Whole Budget report, the Budget Support Act, and the Budget Request Act. Thank you for your time and consideration. Sincerely,

Elissa Silverman on behalf of the DC Fiscal Policy Institute