DC residents must be civically engaged, because the alternative is to be governed by people who do not have to live with the consequences. However, our civic engagement must be accompanied by transparency, accountability, and relationship with our elected officials. 

This year, DC faces our most historic primaries under DC’s Home Rule, and Fair Budget wants to ensure that DC Council candidates are focused on and accountable to building community-centered budgets and budget processes for the District.

That’s why we launched our Fair Budget Civic Power group.

The Fair Budget Civic Power (FBCP) working group serves to unite everyday residents and voters to build community and collective power to win a budget that works for everyone, not just those at the top. We work to hold elected officials accountable and engage candidates to advance policies that confront systemic social, racial, and economic inequality and deliver transformative change for the District.

When you vote in a DC Council race, you are not just choosing a person. You are deciding whose name gets attached to the bill that funds the program that keeps your neighbor housed. You are deciding which budget priorities make it to the Wilson Building and which ones die quietly in committee. Your vote in this city is transformative because the margins here are thin and the stakes are personal. 

FBCP is generating voter resources to help DC residents understand where DC Council candidates stand on issues including autonomy, transparency, oversight, and more ahead of the June 16 primaries and looking ahead to the general election in November.