Legislation

  • Extended Rent Control for the next 10 years to ensure that our affordable rental housing stock is maintained for our city’s residents.
  • Modernized and strengthened the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program to mandate standard, robust, up-front assessments for all TANF participants; to expand acceptable work activities to include job skills training and adult basic education opportunities; and to require detailed outcome measurements.
  • Reformed the Rental Housing Commission to ensure we have qualified Commissioners to produce accurate, informed, and timely judgments on rent control hearings.
  • Reformed the composition of the DC Housing Authority Board to ensure all stakeholder groups are represented by requiring one of the current public housing resident members to be a Housing Choice Voucher recipient.
  • Worked with Councilmember Cheh to include a provision in the new contracting and procurements law that would require that the bidding vendor’s past performance on First Source is taken into account when their bid is being reviewed.
  • Coordinated with Councilmember Cheh to include a provision in the new contracting and procurements law that would require a bidding vendor’s past performance on First Source to be considered when their bid is being evaluated.
  • Expanded the definition of the lottery, to include online games such as online poker and fantasy sports, which is projected to generate more than 13million dollars over the next 4 years, while allowing DC to effectively regulate activities that are already taking place in our city.
  • Clarified the tax code regarding the collection of hotel taxes from online travel companies, which will eliminate current tax evasion practices and will eventually lead to the collection of from approximately $6 million to in excess of $10 million dollars annually.
  • Reformed our homeless services laws to ensure that homeless DC residents receive preference at local shelter and transitional housing programs.
  • Introduced the “Returning Citizens and Ex-Offender Services Reform Act of 2010”, which modifies the constitution and purpose of the Commission on Re-Entry and Ex-Offender Affairs to strengthen inter-agency coordination, planning and budgeting.
  • Introduced the “District Resident Employment and Trade Stimulus Amendment Act of 2010”, which amends the First Source Employment Act by requiring that District government-assisted construction projects over $200,000 have in place increased residency standards by skill level and trade, and that labor agreements are in place to ensure the project will be completed with full labor peace and strong labor standards. The bill also strengthens reporting requirements and transparency.
  • Introduced the “Good Corporate Citizenship Business Friendly Incentive Act of 2010”, which creates tax incentives for DC’s local businesses who implement progressive policies such as employee wellness programs, participation in mentoring programs, employee tuition reimbursement and strengthened environmental standards.
  • Introduced the “District of Columbia Community Schools Incentive Amendment Act of 2010” which creates five pilot community schools that will co-locate naturally allied programs such as health care or adult education in local school facilities during non-school hours to provide holistic wrap-around services to students and community residents.
  • Introduced the “Educational Enrichment Act of 2010” which requires all public and public charter schools to develop plans that provide at least one field trip per year for all students.
  • Introduced the “Bullying Prevention Act of 2010” which requires DCPS to adopt a standard policy for dealing with bullying and cyber-bullying.
  • Introduced the “Support for Veteran-Owned Businesses in the District of Columbia Act of 2010” which gives Veteran-Owned and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned businesses additional preference points regarding city contracts.
  • Councilmember Brown set an aggressive legislative agenda by successfully moving the following bills out of the Committee on Housing and Workforce Development and through the full Council:
    • Unemployment Compensation Reform Act of 2009 increased eligibility, improved the administration and accessibility of the unemployment compensation program, and qualified the District for additional federal stimulus funds.
    • Tenant Organization Petition Standing Amendment Act of 2010 gave tenants the right to allow their tenant organization to represent them in any petition actions brought under the Rental Housing Act of 1985 or under the D.C. Housing Code.
    • Keep DC Working Act of 2010 established a voluntary work share program supported by partial unemployment compensation to provide employers with an alternative to layoffs.
    • Stimulus Accountability Act of 2010 required that all jobs created through stimulus funding be listed on the Department of Employment Services website and to require the Mayor to maintain a list of all jobs created and filled by District residents as a result.
    • Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Preservation Clarification Amendment Act of 2010 clarified the law to better protect and preserve a tenant’s or tenant group’s opportunity to purchase rights.
    • Whitelaw Disposition Approval Resolution of 2010 approved the land sales agreement to facilitate the rehabilitation of the 35 affordable units of the Whitelaw Hotel Apartments in Ward 1.