The Mayor has released his proposal for closing the $131 million gap in the FY2009 budget, reflected in the two pieces of legislation linked below.  This will be the subject of a roundtable this Friday, October 17, 2008, The Committee of the Whole Public Oversight Roundtable, 1350 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Suite 412 at 9am.  There are 4 important things to note:
1. The “Balanced Budget Request Act” bill shows how each agency’s budget cut.  This totals $31 million, and is tied to agency vacancies. (The agency cuts also can be found in “Column D” of (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dc/2008/10/how_much_money_did_your_agency.html). If you are concerned about the cuts to agencies you care about, this would be a good reason to testify
2. The “Balanced Budget Support” bill refers to special purpose accounts (also known as O-type) that would be tapped.  Unfortunately, it identifies how much would be left in these accounts, but NOT how much would be taken. For example, the bill would allow funds to be withdrawn from the HPAP first time homebuyer account, but it is not clear how much.  We all should request that the budget plan not be adopted until it is clear how much will be taken from each special-purpose account.
3. The “Balanced Budget Support” bill states that in FY 2010 and beyond, the budget would be balanced by 5.5% cuts in non-personnel costs of all DC agencies.  This could include a cut in all subsidy programs, like Local Rent Supplement, Medicaid, and IDA.  While the Mayor’s office is likely to revisit this plan when it submits the FY 2010 budget, we should testify this Friday that those kinds of cuts would be unacceptable.
4. Chairman Gray has sent a letter to Dr. Gandhi (linked below) asking for details on which vacant positions would be eliminated, and on the amounts that would be taken from each special-purpose account.  We should thank Chairman Gray and ask that no budget plan be adopted until this information is available
The Roundtable is your only opportunity to comment on the plan, please plan to testify and make your voice heard!  To sign up to testify contact Aretha Latta, 202-724-8196 by the COB TODAY.
FY2009 Balanced Budget Support Legislation
FY2009 Balanced Budget Request Legislation
Chairman Vincent Gray letter to Natwar Ghandi

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Mayor Fenty just released a detailed plan to close the funding gap for FY 2009. 
 Mayor Fenty’s FY 2009 gap closing plan