To continue holding our DC councilmembers accountable, the JUFJ Campaign Fund continues to pay close attention to the votes DC councilmembers take. We scored five votes during last Tuesday’s DC Council legislative meeting based on whether they put people first, over corporate interests and extremely wealthy individuals. We encouraged councilmembers to vote the following ways on the following legislation:
- Vote YES on B23-965, the “Displaced Workers Right to Reinstatement and Retention Amendment Act of 2020.” This bill will help ensure that workers who lost their jobs due to COVID-19 have a job to return to when businesses have the resources to build back their workforce.
- Vote YES on B23-494, the “Ban on Non-Compete Agreements Amendment Act of 2020.” In banning non-compete agreements, this bill will benefit workers, employers, and the economy by improving workers’ earning power and job mobility, and employers’ candidate pools.
- Vote YES on B23-35, the “False Claims Amendment Act of 2020.” The bill will eliminate a tax fraud loophole thereby holding all people and corporations accountable for paying their fair share of taxes, ensuring the District is not losing out on revenue that can be used for important social service programs and supports.
- Vote NO on both amendments to B23-127, the “Omnibus Public Safety and Justice Amendment Act of 2020” (formerly the “Second Look Amendment Act of 2019”). The bill itself, pursues developmentally-appropriate, safe, and just sentencing reform by expanding the District’s current “second look” sentencing statute for individuals who committed offenses before age 25 and have been incarcerated for at least 15 years. The amendments introduced will weaken and undermine the intentions of the bill.
On all five votes, the Council voted the way we wanted them to, but changes might still be made to some bills before the next legislative meeting.
ACTION ALERT: The Restaurant Association and other corporate interests are fighting back against the worker reinstatement bill — and some councilmembers seem to be listening. Fill out this action alert before December 15 to make sure Council hears your voice that no workers should be excluded from the bill.
As we near the end of the current Council session, we encourage councilmembers to prioritize racial and economic justice as they make policy decisions. A new JUFJ Campaign Fund DC Council scorecard is scheduled to come out in early 2021. Be on the lookout for it! In the mean time, you can revisit the last scorecard at dccouncil.net.
